A Story of Stories
by eyeguy616
Summary: (ACC) Adrian learns of his family's past through pokémon that have been passed down from generation to generation. Please R/R! Read my Bio. (^____^)
1. Part 1: A Flaming Past...

______________________________________________________________  
A Story of Stories - Part 1: A Flaming Past...  


  
On this long forgotten day of summer, we find a boy named Adrian sitting at home, bored, and too young to really get a job. "Hmmmmmm...." he wondered, "Mom, I think today would be a good day to checkup the pokémon at the center."   
"Funny, I was thinking the same thing!" she came in and said to her son, "I guess we could go today..." She was working on something on the computer before she came in. She looked for the one spot where she had left the pokéballs from the last time she got them checked. She used to be one of the best trainers, and she never yelled or scolded her pokémon. She was now old, and didn't care too much about the training or battles or most things pokémon. She found the balls and her purse. They decided to walk to the center since it was a nice cool day.   
"Tell me about some of your pokémon," Adrian said to his mother as they walked on a well worn path.   
"My pokémon are not mine; they are not under my total control," she stated, "They are governed by their own will, and they are my friends." She had nine pokéballs with her and they kept walking. "In this one," she held up a solid red pokéball, "is a charizard that has been passed down this family for millennia. Her name is Charla, named when she was born as a charmander."   
"Yeah, I know her, sorta. She has helped me on more than one occasion, likes watching TV, and you let her out every few weeks to go hunt."   
"Correct! She is quite possibly the smartest charizard in existence. She can tell you about herself since you will be inheriting her and the other pokémon I have when I pass-away."   
"Wow... I would like to hear her tell her story," Adrian said as his mother held another pokéball, which was solid blue.   
"This is one holds a blastoise, but it is not as old. His name is Cannon, so named for the potential that he had as a squirtle. He was all about brute force when he was an infant. He towered over all of his kind when he was growing up. Over the centuries, like Charla, he was taught how to read, write, and speak our language. He can tell you more about himself, as can all the others, they all know how to speak our language. I just know brief history on all of them," she paused to get and hold up another ball that was yellow and black. "This one holds a raichu, whose name is Lightning, so named since she had the brightest yellow fur as a pikachu. Now her fur has turned solid black except for the little yellow dots on her cheeks," she smiled as she remembered seeing how Lightning could trash any ground pokémon without breaking a sweat. "This one," she held a ball that was red on top and a very white colored red on the bottom, "has a rapidash named Dasher. His parents were racers, and since they loved the feeling of wind rushing over them, they named their first born Dasher. He does have siblings, but they are probably too old to truly race any more. He probably has a good dozen years left thanks to the pokéball."   
"Well, we are almost there," Adrian pointed to the center slowly coming into view.   
"I guess you could hear what they have to say for themselves when we get home," she said as she put the ball back. They walked into the center and were greeted with a friendly nurse.   
"How may I help you?" she asked.   
"I'd like to get these pokémon checked," Adrian's mother stated as she put on the counter nine pokéballs.   
"Okay. Chansey, I'd like you to take these pokéballs to the checkup room.   
"Chansey! Chansey-chansey."   
"It'll take a little while, so why don't you sit down on the couch and read a magazine," the nurse said as she left to the checkup room to checkup the pokémon.   
"I wonder what magazines they have?" Adrian asked as they made their way to the couch. "Hmmmm.... Not real good selection.....," looking around and under some of the magazines, he finally found something of interest. His mother didn't feel like reading a magazine, so she sat and waited patiently.   
After about half an hour, the nurse came out and said, smiling, "Your pokémon are in tiptop shape and have good manners! They all feel okay and just want to relax a little bit in the sun when I told them the temperature outside. Hehe... they were really nice and cooperated nicely with me!" She handed back the pokéballs to Adrian's mother.   
"Chansey-Chansey!" the Chansey agreed.   
"Thank you very much, bye!" Adrian's mother said as they left the building.   
After some uneventful walking, they reached home and Adrian immediately sat on the couch and turned on 'ye olde radiation toob.' (THE TV IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW)   
"I wonder what's on," he said as he flipped through the channels. "Cool, wrestling!" After he shouted this, a pokéball opened by itself. It was Charla.   
"I loves watchin' people wrastle!" she said as she hopped over the couch and slammed on the carpet in front of it. She seemed less than six feet tall, head to toe.   
"Remember my grandmother's teaching about how to control the temperature of your flame, now," Adrian's mom told Charla.   
"I remember. 'S okay," she said. She had gotten so used to talking in human that she started slurring just like Adrian did sometimes.   
They watched as a real big muscular guy strutted down the ramp, making his way to the ring. "Ladies and gentlemen, Bulk Logan!" the ring announcer shouted into the microphone. The crowd, and our little audience, whooped and yelled and cheered! After the announcer shouted the name of the other wrestler, the match was under way.   
After the show was over, our two TV watchers sat, pleased with the show.   
"What else is on?" Charla asked Adrian.   
"I don't know... let's check," he said picking up the TV guide. "Hmmm.... nothing good at this hour."   
"Hmmph," snorted Charla, "Over a hundred channels of TV and nothing good is on!" She almost flamed up at the ceiling. "Oh well.... might as well go hunting." She got up and headed toward the back door. "Be back in an hour!" she yelled as she left. She flew up and over the horizon as seen from the house. She loved to fly around and be wild, even though she knew that she had manners and discipline. She finally found her pray: a wild mankey in a forest outside the town. She did a 'sonic slam' attack to knock the mankey completely out. She picked it up and made for home. Once in the yard she went to work on mankey, ripping the meat off bones. Soon it was just a pile of bones that was once a pokémon. She started to work at eating the marrow in the bones when Adrian came outside.   
"Whoops! Sorry, I didn't know you weren't finished," he said as he shielded his face from the mess of blood and some inedible guts in front of Charla.   
"It's okay. Just hold on a sec," Charla said as she finished the marrow from the bone. She then flamed all the blood off her face and arms and incinerated the gore on the ground to ashes. "There. What was it you wanted?"   
"Well.... I just wanted to know.... your history, uh, I mean, you-you know," he stumbled.   
"Oh, oh! Ya, I know. You want to know the life I lived all these thousands of years. Hmmm... A long tale it would be.... Let's start by finding a good spot out of the way where it's just you and me. I'll tell your mom." She stepped in and told her that they will be leaving for a few days and to not worry. Adrian's mother knew what was going on; she did the same when she was his age.   
Even though it didn't look like it, Charla was an incredibly strong flyer. Adrian rode on her back as they flew to a mountain that had no life on it or in it; a perfect spot she had remembered. They found a good spot to land as well as sleep.   
"That was an awesome ride!" Adrian said as he fell off her back dizzy. He regained control and stood up, looking at Charla's tail flame.   
"It's suiting that I tell another in this long living family of humans who befriended me more than two thousand years ago. You are Adrian, named after an ancestor of yours I once knew. He was the son of the man who tamed me. That man who tamed me was named Crimson, for the long crimson stripe he was born with that seemed to separate his left side from his right. That man was a great man." She paused, remembering him. "You're almost like him, in a way." She then heard a small rumbling noise. Adrian looked down at his stomach and smiled.   
"I guess since we're here, we might as well eat," he said trying not to sound anxious.   
"Might as well!" she said, smiling back at him. She then flew off in search of pray. This time she found a couple of scyther attacking a nidorino. In one swoop she knocked all three of them unconscious. She picked up the scyther and nidorino and flew back to the where Adrian sat patiently. "Wow!" he gasped.   
"I couldn't pass up the three-for-one offer these three set up for me!" she laughed as she set them down. Since scyther had tough, almost steel like shells and blades, Charla had to gut them. "This will only take a minute," she announced. She flamed the shells dry after she removed all the meat. This almost formed a full suit armor, complete with helmet and shin guards. "Try it on," she said to Adrian.   
"Uh... how do I put this on?"   
"Here, let me put this on you," she held what was the scyther's chest and slipped it on Adrian's shoulders. "Hmm.. A good fit, right?" she asked, remembering the previous times she did this to his ancestors.   
Adrian looked bewildered, "Uhhh... Yeah, it does fit a little snugly, but it's fine." He then tried to get up, but fell over on the armor. CLANK! While on the ground, he asked, "Done cooking the meat?"   
"Yes, it's finished, but it might be a little dry. Why not put a little nidorino blood on it for flavor."   
"Hmm... worth a shot!" He picked up a piece of cooked meat and dipped it in the nido's blood. Not sure if it would be good, he sniffed it, then made a big bite into the cooked meat. "Not bad, not bad at all.... munch"   
"I knew you'd like it!" she said as she got done gutting and cooking the other scyther. "I like scyther cooked, but nidos taste good raw." After another half hour, they were full, and Adrian kept the scyther suit on. "Now you really look like Crimson," she said as she looked at Adrian with the full scyther suit on, "he had the skill and power to kill scyther with his bare hands. I remember him in a blood stained scyther suit of armor; he even left the wings on the back!" She paused, remembering watching him snap the head off one and clear the shell it had of insides. "He was so skillful in his kills, even more than me! It was this that captivated me; a human had learned the ways of the wild hunter. I was watching him from far away when I saw him jump on a scyther and snap it's arm clean off the body. The scyther screeched, but he continued, and off came the head. He used the fallen arm as a weapon and as a tool for gutting that scyther." She paused as Adrian took this brutal scene in his mind.   
"I didn't know anything could kill a scyther in such a manner, let alone a man." Adrian stated as he envisioned it.   
"He could, and did often. As I came closer, he sniffed the air and turned his head. He looked straight at me, with eyes that could shatter a boulder into powder. I held up my hands and said that I would pose him no threat. He looked at me, bewildered. It was obvious that he understood me when he asked 'why'. I sat down and told him..." she stopped and closed her eyes, "I was the outcast of the group of charizards that had inhabited an island off shore a few miles. I was hated by the elders on that island because I had been accused off killing another out of jealousy and anger. I never did such a thing, but the (um.... e-v-i-dence? yeah!) evidence showed that I did. My parents never believed it, but it wasn't up to them. I was damned by the elders. I had to leave that island since it became hostile for me; everyone wanted my guts to feast on. I was about five hundred years old at the time." She paused as she remembered Crimson's reaction to this. "Crimson looked surprised. He couldn't believe what I told him. He then looked into my eyes. I started getting teary eyed as he stared at me with cold iron eyes. He said that he would take me under his wing, so to speak, after he told me his name. He would keep me company until I could find another charizard that was not of that island. I came with him to a small village after he killed another scyther. He carried the meat and armor of that scyther with him also. I gasped as I saw the village; It was made from the various hides and platings that pokémon in that area had. One person stepped up to him; she had on a thin scyther suit that was stained pink. Another slowly came to his feet and walked to him; he wore a robe made of nidoking skin. 'I've come back with more than a kill, a charizard!' he said to the people as he pointed to me. The people that were in front of him greeted me. 'I am Tiki' the woman said, 'I am a doctor here.' She took off the scyther head she had on to reveal her face. She almost looked like your modern day nurses at the hospitals." She stopped, smiled, and snorted a little fire. "It is getting late," she said as she looked up to see a full moon.   
"Think we should go to sleep?" Adrian asked. Charla nodded. "Okay!"   
They looked around to see if anything looked comfy to sleep on. Adrian looked over at the nido hide that Charla left when she gutted it. Then he felt the armor's inside; it was smooth and soft. He decided to just lie on his back and let the plating be his pillow. He then looked over and saw that Charla was getting comfy on the hide. He grinned, looked up at the sky, and fell asleep within a few minutes.   
He began to dream.....   
It was a silent, dark forest. He looked up and saw a harvest moon. He looked over and saw a strange being he had never seen. "Mew?" it said. Adrian got up and looked at the ground; it was covered with ashes. He then looked at the creature, which said something again. "Mew?"   
"Who are you? I don't understand," Adrian finally said to the creature.   
"YYYYYOOOUUUUUU WWWWWIIIIILLLLLLLL KNNNNOOOOOOWWWW SSSSSSOOONNNNNN......." Adrian didn't know where it came from, but he suspected the creature.   
"Why am I here, in this forest? Why is the moon red?" he said, slowly.   
"YYYYYOOOUUUUUU WWWWWIIIIILLLLLLLL LLLLEEEAARRRRNNNNNNNN........" came the voice, "NNNNNOOOOWWWWW...... WAKE!" it shouted, loud enough to wake the dead. Adrian saw the forest slowly disappearing into white. He tried to shield his eyes, but the white was incredibly bright. He then woke in a cold sweat.   
"Huh?! What!? uuuhhhhh..." he had shot up from the sleep, but fell back down, drained.   
"AHH! Are you okay?!" Charla yelled as she saw Adrian shoot from his slumber.   
"Hmmmmmm.... I think so..."   
"You gave me a fright! You slept for more than a day! I was going to fetch a doctor today, but you woke; what was it that you saw?"   
"I saw a creature, a strange one I had never seen before. It looked at me and said something. Ughh.. I don't feel to hot.."   
"You need to eat. I got and prepared a nidorina. The meat is tender and easy to digest. Have some." She had a chunk of cooked meat in her hand and handed it to Adrian. He began to eat slowly, but that changed on the second bite. He never noticed that he wasn't wearing the scyther suit. After he had eaten, he felt a little better.   
"Thanks for the meat," he said as he leaned on a rocky wall.   
"What did that creature say, if you don't mind me asking," she asked.   
"It said something that sounded like 'new,' but it wasn't 'new.'"   
"Hmmmm..... Strange. I've never encountered something that said that."   
"Its head looked a little like a cat's, cute little hands, big feet, and a long thin tail. Its eyes were a lighter color of blue then that of your wings. It seemed.... harmless... in a way. Hmmph." He pondered a second. "Will you continue with your story?"   
"Yes, I will."   
"Crimson presented his kills as well as his new friend. 'What is your name, charizard?' was the first question out of the old man's mouth. 'I'm Charla' I told him. Crimson translated when he looked at me funny. 'Well, Charla, welcome to this village! It has been ages since any of us has seen one like you. You do not need to explain yourself as to why you here. You can live with us as long as needed.' I thanked him and I thanked Crimson. 'Crimson,' the elder called, 'you have done well again. We cannot thank you enough. As I understand, you will be leaving soon, correct?' Crimson said that he was, and to not worry. As long as they had the scyther armor and weapons, they could catch their food easily. He then looked at me and said, 'Will you join me on my adventure?' I was happy to accompany him; it was the only thing I could do to show kindness to him when he agreed to help me. He then asked me if he could fly on my back, since it was a long trip and flying would be fastest. I said hop on, we're going!" She paused to reflect back to that moment. "He told me where to go as we flew into the sky." She sighed, with a little flame coming out her nostrils. "It was a long journey; we found countless kinds of pokémon. We even saved each other's lives several times! Ahhh..., but then he wanted a family. He told me to fly back to a town we passed on one of the trips, and sure enough, he found a young, beautiful woman named Kate. She even invited me to the wedding! It was like we knew each other from the beginning." She was a little teary eyed at how much kindness and love they had toward her. "They had one child, a boy named Adrian. Kate decided on that name and we agreed that it was a great name. Sadly, Kate died of a disease unknown to them at the time. Crimson was heartbroken, and so was his son, who was only six years old at the time. The little boy turned to me and said, 'It is sad that mommy has gone, but it seems.... now..... that you will help guide me through this life.' *sniffle* He looked at me with solid blue eyes, not wavering or teary. I said to Crimson that he had a strong hearted son, and that I would do what I could to make sure he lived. Crimson, it seemed, was the only one who understood what I said, because the little boy looked at his father bewildered." She looked over at Adrian, sitting on a rock, listening to her, absorbing her words, motionless. "I spent more years with them, then Crimson died of old age. He had asked me to put his red stained scyther suit on him a few days before he died. His son, who had a wife and a child then, dug the grave and made the box, using only his strength and some tools. I attended the wake that was held for him. There were hundreds of people, all of them lives he touched in some way. His son asked me to stand in front of the crowd to say a few words after everyone else had said their part. I don't think anyone knew what I said, but they didn't need to; all who spoke said basically the same thing. When I was done, I made a plume of fire that lit the entire place with light, since it was nighttime when it ended." She paused and cleared her nostrils. "None were more sad than his son and me. We stayed at his grave for one whole week; not moving nor flinching. In that one week, winds gusted to forty miles and hour. Rains poured hard, as if fleeing from the sky. The sun shone and baked the ground at one hundred fifteen degrees Fahrenheit for fifteen hours straight on two days. We sat, and endured it all. When it was exactly a week later, his son rose from the ground, stood beside me and said, 'Come, we must feast.'"   
She stopped and looked over at Adrian. He was sitting, almost in a trance, staring at her tail flame, since her tail was the source of light in the now dark sky. "Adrian?"   
"Hmm.. yes?" he said lightly.   
"You've been sitting there, silent, almost in a trance."   
"Sorry, I've been concentrating and absorbing all that you have said. I hope the rest of those generations are just as interesting."   
"No, they aren't, except one. I'll tell you after we get some sleep. Don't you scare me like you did last time, now!" she said, smiling.   
"I'll try not to!" And with that, they both got comfy against some rocks and scattered plant life.   
Adrian fell asleep after Charla did this time. He began to dream.....   
"Adrian.... Adrian....." A voice called his name. He opened his eyes to see a vast sea of white and pearl color flowing all around him. "Where... am I?" he asked.   
"You are dreaming..... This place is in your mind....... Open your mind and you will see me....." Adrian tried to do as commanded, and succeeded. An image of an old man with a solid line down his face and body stared him in the face. "I am Crimson. It is good to see that Charla is still alive, and that this family line still lives. You are the first I have contacted, since she told you more about me than she did previous times. Your mind wondered so long and so far that you have given me a link to the living world. From your mind I can see that your world is corrupted, and pokémon are used as tools for fighting. Because of your devotion to her story, my idea of pokémon will be born again, in another human of high rank and power. From your mind, there should be others like me; possibly the original captures of your mother's pokémon. A lot of things happened with your ancestors; the convergence of all these different pokémon to one person is no coincidence. Continue to listen to her stories, as well as the stories of the others, and you will have the power to change the future for the better!"   
"Change the future? What?!"   
"In my time, people could predict the future in various ways. Of all the different ones I heard, they all agreed that, in thousands of years, the world would be plunged into chaos by wars. All the wars would be fought using pokémon. Needless to say, the end of pokémon is what was predicted. I am telling you this now so you know that these stories of past lives have meaning. When you wake, Charla will begin by hunting; she will catch a nidoking; she will present you with the plating; she will tell a story. Listen to it, absorb it like you did the rest. It will empower you some day." As he finished, the sea of white began to go dark, and Adrian awoke.   
"Ughh..." he slept in a bad position and had aches. "Charla?" She was nowhere to be seen. Must be out hunting.   
It turned out to be true; she came back with a nidoking. "I couldn't believe the luck I had when I saw this big lug running around!" She dropped her kill in front of Adrian and began to gut it. "These guys have incredibly tasty meat! I'll cook you some after it's all cleared out."   
"I'll try it rare this time."   
"Are you sure? Okay..." She handed him some of the muscle from the nido's arm. Adrian looked over the blood enriched meat and started to eat it.   
"Soft, meaty.... wow!" he couldn't believe he was eating it raw, but he loved the taste. He began to feel a little different after he was done eating. "Huh, what's this?"   
"It's the nido's hide! It would make a good mat or blanket for you, but with all the plates, it could make good protection in a battle." She then handed Adrian the hide.   
"Hmm... It's a little thin, but very strong. I'll keep it."   
"Mmm hmm. Well, shall I continue my story?"   
"Yes, please continue."   
"It was a number of generations after Crimson's son's that a strange event happened.."   
"I stepped out of the man's home and was going hunting. The person who was in charge of me this time was named Nicholas. He was already married, but his wife didn't like the fact that I was there. She finally left after having one child, a kid named Steven, who was sixteen and had a job at the time. He never blamed me for his mother's leaving the family, and Nick was sorry that she hated me. Anyway, I found another nidorino and proceeded in killing it and having it for lunch. There was something strange in the thing's blood. I didn't know what it was, but it would be too late when I figured out. I brought home the kill, like always, and began ripping the meat out of it. I normally just gut everything, since I am in no rush. Nick came outside and saw what I bagged. 'Good hunt today, ehh,' he said, since I didn't get anything the day before. He came close to me, and..... and... I jumped on him....," she paused, remembering that frightful event, "and I bit his arm. I came to my senses when I saw what I had done. I released my jaw and got off him. I swear, if I chomped any harder I would have cracked his arm. He got up and yelled to his son to go get the doctor. We lived close by a small hospital which was run by several doctors and a bunch of nurses. He ran and found the nearest doctor and told him what had happened. The doctor picked up some items, and ran as fast as he could to the backyard of the house where Nick was slowly bleeding to death. The doctor immediately began to disinfect the wound then started to bandage it. I sat a few yards away, sad that I had bit him. My back was facing him and my head was down. 'How exactly did this happen?!" the doctor almost shouted after he was done helping Nick. 'Charla bit me, but I know she didn't mean it. It must have been something in her latest kill.' Nick said. The doctor said to me, 'This charizard? Well, it should be locked up for doing something like this so it doesn't happen again.' 'NO!!' Nick shouted, 'She has been in this family for a lot of generations, and nothing like this ever happened!' I said that he was right. The doctor looked bewildered, 'What did she say?' Nick must have looked at me, 'She said that I was right.' Steven must have been confused when he said, 'I thought you didn't understand her language.' 'It seems that I can, now,' Nick said, slowly. 'Well, I'm getting out of here, the bill will be in the mail!' the doctor said as he walked back to his hospital. It was a few days later when I noticed a difference in his height. 'I didn't know humans could still grow when they were middle aged.' I said looking at his new height. 'I can't fit into my own shoes anymore,' he said, 'Could this have something to do with that bite you gave me?' 'I think it does,' I said to him. He was now a couple inches taller than me. Another few days passed by. He was a whole foot taller than me, and most of his clothes couldn't fit him. His legs stopped growing after that; only his feet began to grow and arch, like mine. 'I think I know what's happening to you,' I told him, 'You are becoming a charizard!' He began to take on more changes: his arms and legs began to grow heavy with muscle, his neck began to lengthen, his head grew horns, and a tail shot out of him after a few weeks. His hands and feet remained five fingered, and he grew claws that could cut diamond. He had remained outside all this time, afraid that he would smash things, and I brought him food when he needed it. His tail flame grew with intensity, and began to glow white. He began to scratch at his skin, which began to flake off his body, revealing a white skin underneath. His eyes never changed; they were still the pale green he had since he was a child. The hair on his body fell to the ground, except for a long stripe of hair in the middle of his head. He slowly began to grow taller by the day, topping out at eleven feet! Two months of changes passed and soon he had a throbbing pain in his back. 'Can you please rub my back, Charla.' he stated, not asking. I reached up and began to rub his white back. 'Ahhh... Thank you Charla, for all you've done for me these past months.' 'I couldn't just leave now, could I?' He relaxed, and hunched over. 'Charla, please move out of the way, quick!' he yelled, holding something back. I darted away just as it happened: his wings burst from his back in blood and gore. He let out a roar load enough to make mountains burst into atoms." She looked at Adrian, who had his eyes closed. "Are you awake?"   
"Yes...., I am. I'm just envisioning it in my mind. Please continue."   
"All right..."   
"His wing span reached a whopping thirty feet! The crimson blood color against his white body began to stir some emotions from within me. I walked over to him as he retracted his wings. He turned and looked at me; his pale green eyes staring me in mine. With his giant, muscular hands, he reached out and grabbed my hand softly and lightly pulled me his way. 'What you have done to me is irreversible. How you took care of me, I should only pay back. In the light of a terrible event, you were calm, and thought things through back then, in your world. You are not a charizard to me.... You are a beautiful person of grace and intelligence far acceding the limits thought of your species. This world will know who you are: the mother of the most omnipotent being of existence.' These were his exact words. I had helped to create the most powerful being on the planet then. I couldn't resist him. He took me under his arm and he flew me to a large mountain range hundreds of miles away in a few minutes. He then set me down and flamed what was left of the blood off his back. 'Charla, I will take care of you for as long as I live. But I fear that will not be very long.' I looked at him: bulging muscles on his chest and limbs, flat stomach, a flame hot enough to incinerate me, able to fly faster than the speed of sound several times over. Something's wrong? 'Because I was once human, I fear that my life span has been severely shortened. Hm... I suppose we should get started by hunting. I did get the urges of a normal charizard, you know.' He leapt up and shot to the nearest forest. I guess scyther are everywhere and breed like those no tomorrow, because he brought back six of them, all dead and dripping blood, half an hour later. 'Five of them are to eat, this one is to test my flame on.' He picked one up and threw it in the air. It flew high in the sky and started to fall. Then he blew a flame so hot, and so concentrated, that it looked as if he gave off a solar beam! The beam of pure, raging heat hit the bug and incinerated it to nothingness. No shell, no ash. 'Ha!' With one hand he cracked the shell of another scyther, and squeezed all the meat out of the torso. He then snapped off the legs and put them in his mouth. He chewed through the legs as if they were just crusts of bread. He then flamed the meat from the torso a little, and handed it to me. 'You know I like it raw,' I said to him. 'I know, I know.'"   
Adrian took all of this in and saw it happening in his mind. She didn't have to tell him what came next; he could tell. "So, what did you name your son?"   
Looking a little surprised at what he said during her pause, "Oh, it was.... White-Flame. How did you know it was a male?"   
"Just a guess, but it could've easily have been a female."   
"Hm.... Well I thought of the name when I looked at his tail flame; it was white. His skin was not white, though. It was a deep crimson, deeper than my color. He also had golden eyes; something that shocked both of us. sigh.... The years passed by. We went back to his original house. His original son was still living there, with a wife. They had been married barely a year when we came back. 'So, you finally came back, Father.' he said with a bright smile on his face. 'Father? That?!' were the first words out his wife's mouth. 'It may seem strange, but he was a human once, just like you and me. But an accident happened, and he slowly changed into what he is now. My, you look godly!' Nick stomped over to his son and picked him up in his giant hands. 'Heh, you've grown a lot! I wish I could have seen it.' He hugged him without crushing him and placed him back down. 'So, who's your ma- I- I mean wife?' he said, pointing at the woman. They looked bewildered, then she said, 'My name is Tiki, and I run a local hospital facility during the day.' I thought it odd that she was named 'Tiki,' but I didn't say anything. Life was normal after that. Nothing big happened until he started to wither. 'I'm dying...' Nick said, wheezing. 'I told you this would happen to me.' I looked at him; the once god of pokémon now looked ancient. All the muscle he once had was gone. He couldn't even stand. 'There's something I want you to do before I pass on, Charla. Please, take me to a clearing far from trees.' I did as told, but was shocked at just how much he weighed. 'I will teach you the secret to a technique I call 'Heavy Fire.' As the name implies, there is a way to create and blow heavy fire. Look into my eyes....' I looked at him, and he reached out with giant hand and touched my head. I instantly felt a flow of knowledge from his hand. 'Now, cut my wings off...' I looked at him as if he went mad, 'Cut your wings off?!' 'Yes..... and bring two large bowls to catch the blood.' I was shocked. I called over Steven's now twenty year old son, Kevin. 'Could you bring the two largest bowls in the house, as well as a scyther blade?' He was born with the ability to understand me somehow. 'Right away!' He brought the bowls and the blade a minute later. Nick fell on stomach. 'Now, cut one off and catch blood until the bowl is full, then flame the wound shut!' he almost shouted. I placed a bowl against his right side and.... I began cut the wing. He let off a haunting yell that caused me to jump, and the blade glided straight through, cutting the bone and muscle. The wing fell off him and flapped as blood gushed out of the open hole. The bowl filled quickly and I flamed the wound shut. 'AAAHHHhhhhh....... Thank..... you..... Charla.... Now.... the other...... one.....' I couldn't do that again. I hugged his neck, 'I'm sorry Nicholas, I can't do it..."   
She stopped speaking for a few minutes, trying to regain herself. Adrian got up and went to her. "Are you... all right?"   
She almost began to cry, but she stopped trembling and said, "Yes..... I will be fine. Please, I must continue...." Adrian sat next to her, just in case.   
"'I'll do it.' came from Steven. He was old, but had enough strength to swing the blade. 'Shhtovon,' Nick was trying to speak in human language, 'yoooowll..... mmmushhht..... d-d-dooooo..... it-t-t.....' Steven looked at what was now his father, 'I will not let you down.' I got the other bowl ready to catch the blood. Nick screamed, 'NNNOOOWWWWW!!!!' Steven brought up the blade and let it sing through the air. A clean cut; the wing fell off and flapped; Nicholas yelled; blood flowed like a river. I flamed the wound shut when the bowl almost overflowed. 'Ch-ch-ch-char-la..... Dri-nk.....' I looked at the bowl; in it I saw my reflection. I bent down and sucked up some of the blood. It burned with heat. 'Sshhhhhonnnnnn.....,' he wanted to see his son, White-Flame. Kevin was way ahead of me; he already brought out the charmander, now towering over others with a height of four feet. 'Char?' he asked. 'Dddrrrrinnnnnkk.......' White-Flame saw the bowl that was in front of me, and drank the rest of it. As soon as he was done, he looked up and blew a white hot flame. 'He finally blew fire!' I shouted. Nick motioned his hand to me. 'Cccooommme....' I came near him and he reached up with his giant hand and touched my head. He spoke to me through the connection. 'I want you and White-Flame to save my wings. Do not worry about them decaying; they will not. Tell Kevin that I want him, his father and mother, and everyone that falls in the line of this family to drink one small cup of my blood. It will always stay as it is now, and will never move until one dips a chalice into its space. Someone in this family line will receive instructions as to what my wings will be used for when the time comes. Now.... tell everyone to run, as far as they can still see all of me. Go....' He took his hand off and began to move. 'Hurry, we must all leave, quickly!' I shouted to the others. I picked up the wings and the bowls and flew off to a safe distance. He was right, the blood in the bowl never moved. White-Flame, Steven, and Kevin made their way to where I was. In the distance, we saw what Nick was doing. He stood up on his feet, lunged his head high, and did an ICE ATTACK! How this was possible I'll never know, but he somehow blew a freezing breath that made the area around him begin to snow. I also saw that it began to rain in that area as well. These are the things any fire pokémon fears, since it can cause death. The snow began to build; the rain began to pour with gale winds. In one quick action the whole area froze into a solid block of ice.. but we could still see tail flame burning inside!! I couldn't hold it any longer; I flew to the ice, White-Flame in hand. 'CHAARRRR!!!' he screamed as he saw his tail flame slowly withering. I couldn't believe it either. Then a voice called to me, '...let him touch the ice...' I walked up to the frozen cage and released White-Flame. He ran to the ice and tried to claw his way through. '....you will always have my blessing.....' the voice came again, '...now he will be complete....' It was Nicholas! 'Char?!' White-Flame was becoming charmeleon! I couldn't believe it! He gave me one last look and then flamed hot enough to make the sun seem like just a warm place! I took White-Flame away from the ice just as it happened. The frozen cage exploded into boiling rain, which quickly disappeared. We then walked back to the house. There was nothing left of him in the field; no ashes at all. I still remembered the message he told me, and so I told it to Kevin, who then told it to Steven and Tiki. The bowl of his blood remained solid until Kevin dipped a chalice into it. He scooped up a little of the blood and drank, 'It's burning within me.' He handed the cup to Tiki, who did the same and passed it to Steven. His experience was a little different, 'It was almost as if I drank liquefied fire!' White-Flame, a charmeleon now, began to say something, 'What were my people like?' It was the first time he said a word besides 'char.' I may as well take you to them I said to him. I had been exiled from that place long ago, but I must show him who we are." Charla stopped and looked at Adrian, who was leaning against her, with his eyes looking in a fixed part of space.   
"Tired?" he asked looking up to her.   
"Tired, no. Tired of talking, yes. Charizards do not make good speakers. Hm... I've told you more about me than I told anyone in your family. I think it's time we leave for home, now."   
"But you left a cliffhanger: what ever happened to your son?"   
"I took him to that island and everyone saw us come in. All the faces I remembered were still there, unchanged. My mother was the first to say something, 'I am glad you are home, again.' My father stepped forward and shouted to the rest of the charizards there, 'SHE HAS COME BACK!' Everyone came to greet me, and my son. 'What?! I thought he was concealing his wings! Look, it's a giant charmeleon!' He was big, almost too big for the trip there. At seven feet tall, and all muscle, he was taller than nearly all the others, including me. 'He is named White-Flame, for how his tail flame burns.' Everyone looked. No one's tail flame shone that brightly. 'Who was the father?' asked my father. He was a god is what I told him. Then I told exactly what had happened to create him, and how he died. 'Your prophecies were true, Ash. She would come back with the white flamed child,' an elder said to another. The elder Ash was the oldest of this group at around six thousand years at that time. He stepped forward and said, 'The prophecy also stated that this child must stay on this island. In about two thousand years, he will be called upon to help save the world. What you do now could effect the outcome of the future world. I can't tell you what to do now. None of us can. You must make a decision.' I decided to leave my son in the care of my parents, and to fly back to the human family I was used to." She looked up. "I wonder how he is, if he has his father's heart, if he's a father now...."   
"Everything is all right, Charla. Now, if you want, we can leave." Adrian said, slowly.   
"Thank you for listening so well Adrian. I don't think any of your ancestors sat through a story like you did! They mostly fell asleep about half way through." They packed everything they had and went home. 

______________________________________________________________


	2. Part 2: An Ocean of Days...

______________________________________________________________   
Part 2: An Ocean of Days...

Home again, after Charla's story, was good. "I needed to rest my mind, anyway." Charla was outside, finishing another kill when Adrian's mother came out.   
"Are you ready to be pokéballed?"   
"Almost. *munch* Mmmm.... charrrr.... I'm ready." Adrian's mother never forced any of the pokémon into pokéballs without them knowing first. She called Charla back, more to preserve her than to really keep her. Adrian walked in, with a suit of scyther and a plated sheet.   
"While we were out, she hunted some and saved the hides. I hope you can use this nidoking hide." He presented his mother with the plated sheet. He kept the scyther suit.   
"Oh, thank you! I've been needing a good, tough sheet to cover the little cave in the back. Cannon wanted to use it for his sleep, but it needed a little drapery!" she smiled as she spoke.   
"Speaking of Cannon...."   
"He's in the cave right now, making sure it's completely clear for his use. Why don't you go over there; I'm sure he'll be happy to tell you his history!"   
"You already told him?"   
"Well, I had to tell him where Charla went; he needed her flame to clear out all the various things you might find in a cave, but he managed without it. Go to him." Adrian, anxious to here another tale, said he needed to regain his wits first; Charla's story put his mind on overdrive. He was tired, and needed to sleep on his bed. About twenty minutes after he put his head on his pillow, he slept, and dreamed.... 

He looked up and saw a black sea of nothingness, then a large boat with lanterns. He looked down and saw that he was on a raft, floating on something that wasn't water. As the ship came closer, he stood up and yelled, "HEY!" Someone on the ship heard him, and looked overboard.   
"Who's there?" asked an old man.   
"I am. My name is Adrian and I'm on a small raft. Can you please give me a lift to your ship?"   
"Well I'll be!" he said as he turned toward someone on the ship, "There's someone overboard, guys. Let's try to save 'em!"   
"Thank you so much!" Adrian yelled back. The ship seemed to come to him within a few seconds. It came close to him and slowed.   
"Grab this!" the old man threw a rope down to Adrian. He grabbed the rope and was pulled aboard. "So, how did you survive those murky waters on a raft there, kid?"   
"I didn't, it seemed as if I just popped there after I.... fell asleep."   
"A dream is what yar having, kid. You survived murky waters. So, what are you gonna do now?"   
"Wake up!" Adrian leaped from the boat into the black sea, and woke on his bed. 

It was late at night. "What a weird dream... I wonder if Cannon is still out in that cave." He got to his feet and walked to the back door of the house. Cannon was too big to be in the house, only the cave would be big enough. He walked out and saw a light in the distance; it was from the cave. Adrian walked to it and saw that it was further and much larger than he remembered. In it, Cannon was sitting, being lit by a small fire. Adrian kept walking, and Cannon noticed.   
"I knew you would come," he said as Adrian entered his cave. He was about ten feet tall and almost as much wide and around. "I have been waiting."   
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Adrian said as he sat in front of the giant turtle pokémon, with the fire in between them. "I needed to rest."   
"So, shall I begin? I don't do this very often, since I am not as good with words as Charla or some of the others."   
"Yes, please begin." 

"It started maybe fifteen hundred years ago, when I was born. I was a much larger birth, so my parents needed a commanding name for me. 'Cannon' was what they thought. I took that name with pride; I was Cannon. I... grew larger and faster than any squirtle ever had in our people's history. I towered over other squirtles early on. I did what I could to deserve that name. It was a symbol of power, so I trained myself to be the one with the most power. I came up with techniques that could destroy any wartortle or even a blastoise when I was a squirtle. One was an attack I called 'Water Cannon,' it was similar to 'Water Gun,' but I ducked my head in and blew out with enough force to rival a blastoise's 'Hydro Pump.' I kept training; forcing water at rocks hard enough for them to break apart within seconds. I also weight trained; lifting boulders over my head. Soon, I wasn't a squirtle; I was a wartortle. Now all of my attacks were stronger than a blastoise's. I even challenged my father and told him to be as rough as he possibly could. He opened with a hydro pump attack. I rolled to the side and blasted him with a more powerful water cannon. He shifted his weight to try and stand through it, but he was visibly shaken. He shot a more intensified hydro blast when I blew a water cannon. My blast hit his and charged right through it! He looked bewildered as he rolled out of the way, 'I'm being beaten by a wartortle!' I had created other attacks, but I didn't want to blow him out of the water. He submitted after I hydro blasted him. 'You have grown, and become powerful enough to defeat anyone. I was this land's best, but you have bested me early on. I am proud that my son has such strength and will, that you have trained from the land, while the others simply bask in it. You have the dedication no one else here has, so I know you are the best, and the name your mother thought of was the right choice for a name for you.' He came and patted me on the back. It had been over a hundred years of training on the land before I had challenged my father that time. No one else even thought of trying to challenge me after I defeated him. No one." He paused and stared at Adrian, who sat with his arms crossed and leaning on the rock wall. Cannon looked out at the moon that was just barely visible on its way to the horizon. He began again.   
"No one, that is until about two hundred years later. I had become a blastoise then, and was the sharpest and fastest shooter anywhere. It took a human man to prove to me that I was not the best. His name was Kanin, and he almost equaled me, comparatively speaking, in muscle power. The two things he had more than me were endurance and mentality. He challenged me to a one on one match. I was surprised when he walked up to me and I had to look down at him to see his eyes. 'You're on!' I stated. He was one who could understand the language, and nodded to me. I led him to the beach side. A squirtle was the referee. We got situated and stood face to face, eye to eye. The squirtle stood between us, and then yelled 'GO!' He darted out of the way just as I opened with hydro cannon. Kanin saw my move and jumped clear of the blast. I stopped and lunged at him, spinning. I did not hit him. Instead, he charged and hit me with his palm. It knocked the wind out me! This guy was something else. I ducked my head in and unleashed a triple blast of water. He dodged again and hit my stomach with enough force to knock me over on my back. Needless to say, this battle went on for more than twenty minutes. He had completely blown me away when I hit him with a hydro blast and he stood through it! No one was that strong! I wouldn't submit. He came at me with a jump kick. I narrowly dodged it and he flew into the water. He almost touched it when he rebounded and shot with another. I turned and let him hit my shell. Instead, he bounced off my shell and did a leg sweep. I fell on my stomach and got up. The adrenaline had left me, and I collapsed. He had defeated me. All that were watching gasped. A human had beaten me. He walked up to me and sat next to my face on the sand. 'You fought well,' he said, 'You could have beaten me if you lasted another ten minutes, but I am not easily beaten. Why don't you come with me. It would let this place have its natural strongest, since you fought with unnatural strength. I would have never guessed you trained here, but you did, didn't you?' I told him that I did, to truly earn my name. He began to leave, and I left with him." He stopped and looked at Adrian through the fire. "That human led me to a small gym that was made just for pokémon training without people trainers. It took over a day of walking to get there. When I walked in, I saw a few other pokémon there, training. 'A blastoise named Cannon will join us in training,' he said to them. They looked up, and up to see my face. I looked around and saw free-weights, dumbbells, and weight suits. 'You can use any of the equipment you see. When you are done just put it back and do what you need to do. You can leave at any time you want, if you want. I will not force anything on you.' I looked at him with amazement; a human this trusting of pokémon? Someone like this just didn't exist back then, but there he was. I put on the heaviest weight suit and began to run track. If I was going to beat him, I needed to be quicker on my feet, since blastoise are normally slow. I ran eight laps on the track before I began to get tired. I needed to run faster and harder to really benefit from the weight. I ran as hard as I could for five laps straight. I don't think I broke fifteen miles an hour then. 'Look, that blastoise thinks he's a rapidash!' came from one of the others, training. It was a hitmonchan. I stopped dead in my tracks and glared at him. 'You say somethin' to me?' I half asked half yelled. He took my glare and said, 'Yeah, I did. How about a little match, eh tiny?' I told him to bring it on. I was a little tired from the running, but I wasn't about to let anyone make fun of me. There was a ring behind the gym. We took our places and the match started. He flew at me with a comet punch. I didn't feel his little taps on my shell. I blasted him with a triple hydro blast that sent him flying. He got up and charged at me with a lightning punch. This time I jumped out of the way, and slammed him! He was hurtin', but he wouldn't give up. He came at me with a giga punch that almost winded me. I retaliated with my own punch that sent him into la-la land. I saw that my last punch almost knocked the brains out of his head, so I picked him up and took him to the little medical facility inside the building. 'What's wrong?' asked the little almost pinkish haired nurse there. I told her what had happened and asked if I could help. 'This one's always getting into trouble,' she said, 'He doesn't know when he shouldn't fight. I guess that's his nature.' She told me to take him into a room that had lots of potions and things to help healing. She looked at his head and said, 'You gave him quite a wallop there.' She did what she could and told me to get him wet. 'Don't blow him away, just enough to drench him, he needs it.' I drenched him, and he shot up! 'What?! Where!?' were his first words. The nurse told him that he needed to stop challenging everyone so many times, because it wasn't good for his health. He looked at me and his face showed fright, 'You! You... you keep away! Go! You already did your damage!' He huddled over and began to sob. I think I beat him too hard, or it could have been that I showed kindness to his rude self. Kanin walked in and saw what was happening, and spoke to me, 'You beat him too hard. He's young and doesn't know a strong opponent when he sees one. Please, come with me; I have something that can help you reach your goal.' I walked with him to a shack out in the back. He went into the shack and came out a minute later. 'Here, take it. It's a special vitamin I was given when I started training. It was said that it increases the power of the mind to those whose mind is not as strong as their body. When I faced you, I knew you were the one this needed to go to. You can't be taught how to focus your mind without having hundreds of years of training; to undo what your original training did to you. I only have about thirty years of life left to still be able to fight. Age will undoubtedly beat me, so take this and you will have the power to defeat even me.' He handed me that pill. I looked at it and handed it back. I wanted to do everything the right way; I didn't want a quick fix. He smiled at me, 'Your training with me will begin in a week. You have passed this test of the sound mind. The others you see in that gym took the pill. They became no stronger because they were thirsty for power. You are different; I don't know quite yet, but you definitely have the will to be the best. Rest up and eat up; it will be a long week.' With that he crushed the pill in his hand with a quick motion, 'If you were wondering, the pill was just a little calcium. Not enough to help any but the smallest pokémon.' I rested that night inside the gym on a mat. I woke up and had, what the nurse called, an energy breakfast. It was scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, corn, soft wheat-bread, and a large cup of enriched milk. 'I tailor all meals to the pokémon's size, type, and weight. Your meal is especially big!' Although I did not have a clue as to what was served at the time, I ate it all, and didn't have too eat until the next morning. 'We get the money for everything by entering various tournaments for cash. I enter as well; you may not know it but I am just as strong as my husband, Kanin.' I wanted to see how strong; so I asked her to give her strongest grip on my hand. She gave me a grip that nearly cracked it! She smiled when I winced, 'That wasn't my strongest!' A team this strong could defeat anyone, and anything."   
"Hmm... I wonder how they became so strong. Even those that train all their lives aren't nearly strong enough to beat a blastoise grip, even a normal one."   
"They were something else. A week passed by. It was time to train with Kanin." 

"He began by giving me a modified weight suit. The weight was equal to mine and he HANDED it me! Anyway, I put it on and almost felt my knees buckle. 'We'll begin by walking. I'm sure you are aware of the weight. If you need to stop, just say so and I'll take the suit off you.' I took six wobbly steps when I almost fell. 'Okay, now I know just how strong your legs are. You need to train your legs in order to increase your speed. Here let me get a lighter suit for you.' I told him no. I was determined to show that this suit was not too much for me. I walked some more. My legs were adjusting quickly. I started doing laps on the track by the next day. My legs began to lengthen by the forth day. 'It is a sign that your body now knows what you are trying to accomplish. You have done well these past couple of days. Now take the suit off and let's see how fast you can run now.' I took the suit off and started running. I ran for twenty laps and didn't break a sweat. Then I tried running harder and harder. He said my top speed was about thirty miles an hour. I was amazed; that was the most progress I had made since I started. With his help, and years of time, I grew with strength and speed, able to lift six times my weight and run at a sixty mile an hour pace. I felt so light on my feet that I almost thought that I wasn't touching the ground."   
"Do you still have all the strength?"   
"Almost. I can still run fast and lift a lot of weight, but not quite as much as then." 

"It was a year later when Kanin's wife had a child. Her name was Sandra. After a few years of growth, she was allowed in the gym. I was amazed at how fast she grew. I lay on my stomach and crawled to her when she was four years old. Her parents wondered when she would speak her first word after a long time of silence. She looked into my big face and said 'Cannon!' That was her first word. I was happy to see her grow and become strong. She had flaming orange eyes, and was tanned like her mother. She also had the strength of both her parents put together. She almost didn't seem human; she was wild, and preferred hunting in the forests near the gym. She ate all that she killed raw, and frequently asked me to hose the blood off her body. When the year came that Kanin died of old age, the gym had no pokémon, and his wife was succumbing to age. 'He wanted to tell you that we were going to give this gym away to be changed into a place where tournaments were held. He didn't know when age would defeat him, so he told me to tell you when he died. He asked you to dig the hole in the ground behind the gym for something. This is the reason; he wanted his most prized student to bury him.' So I made it so. I took his lifeless body and placed it into that giant hole I dug at his request a week earlier. I hosed the ground he lay on, when I heard a loud crash. Sandra was there when her mother died. Both had died there on their property. I placed her body next to his and slowly moved the earth over them. Sandra looked at me teary eyed, 'They're gone.' I told her that they still live, in our hearts and memories. Sandra was only twenty when they died. Contractors came and redid the whole place within weeks. It had turned into an arena with large rows of seats and a ring in the middle. They also added a training ground next to it, so anyone could come in and train. They had some marble left over and I asked for it. I was going to make a grave-marker."   
"Hmmm..., they were really the greatest. Does the gym still exist?"   
"Yes, it does. I made sure of that. His act of helping me reach my goal couldn't be given back, so I did what I could to keep that gym, and his memory, alive for those wanting to be the best. His daughter fell in love with one of the young men in construction. In my opinion, no one could have tamed this wild child, but he somehow captured her heart. He was a good man; never yelled at her; never told her what she could or couldn't do. He didn't even mind that I helped out at that gym. Lots of tournaments where held at the gym, now named the Kanin Gym. Everyone loved the facilities that it had. I made sure that everything was big and easily accessible. They soon had a boy named Neil. Many generations of this family lived at that gym. I also stayed there for many years; how many I am not quite certain. When I left to explore the world with the eldest son of the time's generation, I would never return. His name was Banon III, after his father and grandfather. I went everywhere with him. We made our way across an entire continent and explored where people never dared." He looked at Adrian again, then at the now rising sun. The fire had gone out hours ago. "Adrian, now it is time for sleep. I will continue later tonight. You should go back and sleep in your bed, since this will be mine."   
"You are telling this just as well as Charla, ya know. I hope you have more to tell tonight."   
"Do not worry; I still have quite a tale to tell."   
"Sleep tight!" Adrian got up and walked back to the house. His mother was up drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.   
"Oooo... it's gonna be a tough day at work today, I can just feel it!" She worked at the hospital in the next town in the morning. "Ahh.. nothing like coffee."   
"Well, I hope your day isn't too hard."   
"Oh, it always is... I just never talk about it."   
"Well, I'm going to take a nap."   
"Sweet dreams!" Adrian went to his room and plopped on the bed. Ollie, his pet meowth, was already sleeping on the bed when he was disturbed.   
"Mmraaah.... mow.. meow." He never really did much; he was just there to be there. "Purrrr..."   
"Silly kitty..." Adrian said as he rubbed the cat's back and belly. Within about ten minutes he fell asleep, with Ollie comfy on his stomach. Adrian dreamed.... 

He opened his eyes to see a vast plain with mountains and rolling hills. The sun was showing brightly. A figure stood out in the scene. It was a man that looked physically fit. "Who are you?" Adrian asked.   
"I am Kanin. You listened and drew inspiration from Cannon's story. I told him that age would beat me. I was wrong; if anything it showed him that I never lost. He still thinks of me, everyday. You will soon be part of something that will change how everything is looked at. Listen to his stories well; they will sharpen your mind. I am aware that you already listened to Charla; she and everyone else will help you when the time comes. Adrian, you will need the guidance of stories to complete the task ahead."   
"But what is this task?"   
"You will learn, in time. Cannon and another will be there in the cave, anxious to tell you what happens next. You brought out his mind. No one in the line of families has ever had an interest in stories like you." With that, it faded, and Adrian woke. 

It was night time already, and his mother was home. Ollie was still on his stomach. Adrian picked up the cat and took him out of his room. "You sleep too much." Adrian's mother greeted him and the cat as he set the cat on the couch. "Cannon's still out there, he still has a tale to tell,' he mumbled to himself. A quick cup of tangy orange juice shot the sleepiness right out of him. "I'll be at the cave, Mom."   
"All right, honey!" He walked to the cave and saw another little fire set up to give light. When he got there, it wasn't a little fire, it was Charla's tail flame. He looked a little surprised, but walked in and sat down anyway. Charla smiled at Adrian when he came in. "He needs my help in this. I don't know how he was able to do what he did last night without me." Then she leaned next to Adrian and said, "He normally can't speak what he wants to, but I think it was some kinda fluke in his brain!" Cannon lightly slapped her side and they laughed. "Well, you always did bring out the worst in me!" Cannon said as he laughed.   
"So..., will you continue the story?"   
"Oh, oh, yeah. I will. This involves her a little bit," he said as he thumbed Charla. 

"Banon had traveled a long time when he finally met a woman. Her name was Viki. She was traveling as well, but she had someone with her: Charla. Anyway, the two humans fell in love, and traveled on. We followed them to a small cabin that was close to a hospital when they had a child, Shaun."   
"Woh, woh, hold it! They got married at a church in a remote region before they found the cabin. It's just as well he forgot because he slept through the whole thing! I just wish they had cameras back then, otherwise I'd show you a picture of how he looked when the flowers landed on his shell. He was so asleep that he never noticed them when he got up and they fell to the floor. So many woman went for the flowers that there was almost a fight for them! Oooh... it was quite a scene!"   
"Ahem! Well, it was just as well that I forgot. Anyway, when they settled, we had time to become friends. We did a lot of things with their son; since he was around us all the time, he learned how to understand us. And then, something tragic happened.... You tell him."   
"No, it's your story, so you tell him."   
"No, you."   
"No, you!"   
"Will someone please continue?"   
"Okay, The region they settled in had numerous cases of attacks by rhydon and rhyhorn. They never thought much of it since we were there. Then it happened. About forty rhydon and rhyhorn attacked! We had our hands full with five apiece while more attacked the house. I told Charla to go and save them; I could handle these guys. One by one they fell to my power. Charla, tell him what happened on your side.   
"Okay, I flew to the cabin, only to find a horrible scene: Banon and Viki were defending their son with their selves.... You continue, I can't."   
"I got there a little after Charla did, when I saw... that.... Banon jumped in front of a rhydon's horn drill, to defend his son.... Viki had already done the same a minute before. I was sent into a rage! I ran and squashed one rhydon flat, and knocked the brains out of another. Charla stood there, shaking, when she took action. She took Banon, Viki, and Shaun out of the building and flew them to the hospital. I was happily left to trash those honorless fools. I never got them wet; I just slaughtered them with my own bare hands. I first killed the two that had blood on there their horns, and then went to work on the others. Out of around thirty that attacked the house, I killed about twenty five, leaving just a few to carry a massage back to their leader. I tore the two bloody drills right out of their skulls and kept them. Then the rush of rage left me. The cabin was filled with so much blood that I had caused to spill and so many bodies that fell victim to my rage, I started digging a massive hole a few dozen yards from the cabin. I stayed and toiled to dig and to place each body and/or part in the grave. I had slaughtered so many! At first I thought it was only ten, until I counted the whole bodies. Such a loss I had created. I had killed so many. As I hosed the blood out of the little cabin, I wondered if I did the right thing; attacking and killing the attackers. It just didn't settle in my mind. I covered the grave and stomped it flat. I ran to the hospital as fast as I could and waited outside the building. It was too small for me to set foot in. A nurse walked outside when she saw me sit by the door. 'Hello, I'm Tiki. How can I help you?' I said that a man and a woman were submitted here with possibly fatal wounds. She didn't understand. She was about to say something when Charla and Shaun walked out and saw me."   
"I told him that they had died on the hospital grounds. Shaun was too young for this to happen; he was just six years old. Banon told me to never surrender their son, and to give his thanks to Cannon for being the best traveling partner before he died. Viki died before she could say anything, but I could read her eyes before she went limp. Both of their wounds were too massive to be recovered from."   
"So we were outside and we started to walk from hospital when and officer from the hospital came to us. 'I'm sorry, but this child must come with me.' I spoke to her, but she didn't understand. She walked over to the child and he ran behind me. He shouted, 'You not take me! He and she take me!' The cop wouldn't listen, so I told Charla to take the boy and fly. I would keep the cop distracted. You took him with you and you flew out of sight, at least out of human sight. I saw you in the sky and darted as fast as my legs could take me. You were flying pretty fast, but I caught up after seeing where you were heading. I just needed to avoid the police. I had to use my speed so that I didn't get in anymore trouble with the human law. It took a week of eluding them to finally see Charla and Shaun again."   
"As you may already know, we took care of him. He was your ancestor of sixteen generations ago."   
"Wow, that was quite a tale."   
"Yes, I thought it was"   
"Well, it's almost daytime. You should be going back. Tell Ollie that he needs to get out more!" Charla said, jokingly licking her chops and smiling.   
"Well, I'm happy to hear anymore stories, if you'd like to tell them."   
"Maybe later. I just thought I'd tell you the things I most remember from my life. I'll stay in here and think."   
"And I'm gonna go hunt. Something tells me there's a plump nido' over the mountains! Should I take some back here for you Cannon?"   
"Yeah, it's been a while since I've had blood in food; then again it's been too long since I last ate!"   
"Well, I'll see you guys later," Adrian said as he walked back to the house. The sun was rising. And, of course, his mother was up drinking her cup of coffee and reading the newspaper. The coffee wasn't affecting her today like it normally does. She didn't notice Adrian walk in the door. He went to his room to nap. Ollie wasn't there, so he jumped on the bed and fell asleep within a few minutes. He dreamed.... 

A strange plane of existence was spread out before him. He watched night turn to day turn to night. He looked and saw two figures. A woman and a man. He saw the shadows of a charizard and blastoise, but the bodies weren't anywhere to be seen. The woman walked up to him.   
"You have awakened Charla and Cannon's memory of us. You are the first to do so." Then the man walked forward.   
"The pokémon of this world will be at war again, soon. I can feel it. Adrian, these are bad times that humans will be the cause of soon." Adrian turns around and sees the shadows of battling pokémon on the ground in front of him, slashing and biting, flaming and scorching. Then the shadows of humans firing guns and slashing with swords. The moon came up and the shadows intensified. The moon slowly change from white to crimson.   
"No.... there is too much blood shed! There is too much fighting! There is.... too much....." He couldn't stop the emotion. "So, this is the fate... of humanity and pokémon!? Then I know my purpose; I know what I must do. Pokémon know the past better than we; this event happened once before, didn't it?!" The man and woman nodded.   
"It happened in a place far from here. It only involved that continent and no one else. The next war will take the world," the woman said. Adrian's mind exploded.....   
"This will not happen.... I will not let it!!" And Adrian woke, three days later. 

______________________________________________________________ 

  



	3. Part 3: A Capacitor's Vision...

______________________________________________________________   
Part 3: A Capacitor's Vision...

"Adrian! Oh... you're finally awake!" Awake? I only slept for a few hours. Then again, I do feel weak. "You were asleep for three days! Honey, I hope you're okay." Three days?! Was I out for that long? That dream was trying to tell me something. I just can't remember what.   
Adrian looked around and saw that he was outside. All the pokémon were there, around him. His cat Ollie and the other nine. I must have given everyone a fright. Lucy, the raichu, walked forward, "We were so worried about you. You're Tiff's only son, and it would have hurt us badly if you had slipped from us. We would have been relocated and separated if she didn't have a child." She looked at Adrian with unwavering eyes. Her dark fur shown in the sun. The others walked forward. Adrian looked at all the faces: charizard, blastoise, rapidash, raichu, alakazam, marowak, dragonair, golduck, gengar, and his pet meowth.   
"Remind me not to sleep!" was what Adrian said after he stood up. The others let out a small sigh of relief. They walked back and entered their pokéballs, except Lucy.   
"In the years both of us have lived, I never really got to know you. Call me Lucy," the raichu stated as she looked up at Adrian. He felt a little better hearing her soft voice. "Let's go to the kitchen." Adrian walked with Lucy back to the house and they sat at the kitchen table. "When I was young, my parents and older relatives would always gather at a feast and talk. I suppose this will do for now." Adrian's mother brought him a cup of tangy orange juice. He sipped it and sprang from his sleepiness.   
"I needed that. Thanks Mom!"   
"Yeah, Tiff always knows just what to get to solve certain problems," Lucy said as she walked over to Adrian's mother. "Ain't that right?"   
"Of course!" she said, patting her favorite pokémon on the back. "I work at a hospital."   
"So, how ya been, bro? I really should already know, but I want you to tell me."   
"I'm... okay. I guess. I still don't remember that dream I had."   
"You mean you had a dream while you were knocked out? Shoot, I don't get that lucky!"   
Glug. "Yeah, right. Well, I've been having a string of dreams, ever since Charla took me out and told me a story. Weird ones at that."   
"Do you remember what they were about?"   
"Not entirely. I sorta remember the one I had on the first night. A strange creature looked at me and said something like 'new,' only it wasn't 'new.' It looked harmless, being small and having a cute little cat like face. It had small arms, big feet, and a long, thin tail as well. Its eyes were a very sky blue color, lighter than the underside of Charla's wings."   
"Hmm... I have ta say that I never saw somethin' like that. It might not-a been pokémon."   
"Well, I only dreamed it once. Then I remember a dream about the person that had befriended Charla. He told what was going to happen that day, and he was right. Hmm... I remember one about a sea of nothing and I was on a raft. A ship came and they through a rope to me. The captain said that I had somehow survived 'murky waters' and 'was something else.' I dove off the boat to wake up after he told me that I was dreaming. Oh, before I fell asleep, Ollie wasn't in my room. Where was he?"   
"I don't know. Hey Tiff, do you know where the kitty was before the big sleep?"   
"Yes, he was on the couch. I thought it odd that he wasn't in your room. He loves how the bed feels," Adrian's mother called from the living room.   
"Well Adrian, since you started asking history around here, I might as well tell you mine." 

"I was born several of your generations ago. As a pichu, I was the silliest little one in the group that I belonged in. I would always play harmless pranks and always play static tag. Of course, I was usually the last one to get tagged, so a lot of dust would build up on me, and my fur would stand on end for hours. It took a while, but I finally became a pikachu, and my parents finally named me. They didn't need to name me, but they thought it was time I had one since 'Hey you' or 'Why you little' just didn't suit me. They looked at my fur; it was the brightest of all the pikachu there. When they saw me zip past them, they thought I looked like lightning, so that's what they named me. I thought it was a little tacky, but anything was better than 'What's your face.' I decided to just leave it at Lucy after I became a raichu, since my fur turned dark except for my cheeks." She grinned. "Ha! I packed more punch than that goofy little Hawaiian guy that was in those weird soft drink commercials! I didn't even need my electric personality to defeat my opponents. Some worthless graveler was attacking our little group one day and I was able to trash him like he was nothing. Because I was at a big disadvantage I had to use my head to outwit him. It didn't take long for him to run off, or should I say roll off. Hm hm ha... it was all fine and dandy until a small group of humans came. This time all of us let 'em have it, since they were coming to capture us. Those idiots didn't stand a chance. I think they had dark uniforms with a big 'R' in the middle of their shirts. None of us really knew who or what they were at the time, but we just wanted to live in peace. Some more time passed and one day a single human came. We were going to shock her, but she didn't seem to pose a threat. She had a large pad and a little stick. She was an artist, and thought we were perfect to draw. She sat on the grass and drew. I'm not to sure what she drew, but she did do several drawings. I walked up to her and offered her an apple, for not creating a ruckus. We had pichu everywhere for that. She excepted and offered her hand. I didn't know it at the time, but she wanted to shake my hand. I put my tail on her hand and gave her a little buzz! I felt so bad when she screamed from the shock, that I went and got another apple and placed it next to her. Only she wasn't moving, except for the up and down motion of her chest. At least she was breathing. The others noticed what happened and came. The pichu tried their static charges to get her awake, but only succeeded in making her clothes statically charged." She looked up at the ceiling light. "I had an idea: get water. We always used some for pranks, since water can carry electricity. I ran to the pond with a small half shell of a coconut and got some water. I came back and splashed her face. She instantly shot out of her shock induced slumber. She looked at everyone there and you know what she said? She said, 'I'm sorry I worried all of you.' Can you believe it? She was sorry for causing us to worry when I caused her to be knocked out. I couldn't hold it, I spoke to her, sayin' that I was the cause of her getting knocked out. She looked at me with a confused expression on her face. She didn't understand me. She then called out of a pokéball the strangest pokémon we had ever seen. It was Alen, her alakazam. 'Can you translate for me, please?' she asked the thing. He nodded. He looked at me with a glare, which went away a second later. He had a grin on his face and asked me what I said. I told him and he told her. She said not to worry; she knew the risk she was taking by being there. That alakazam came to me and touched my head with one of his spoons. I felt a surge of knowledge flow in ma head and when I said somethin', she understood it. She got up and started to leave with Alen, but I wanted to go with her. Don't ask me why, I just felt this urge to go outside the little box I had created for myself there at that place. She looked over and asked if I was sure, and I said, 'ya I'm sure.' She smiled and looked at Alen and said, 'We have a new friend!'" She paused and thought for a second. "She was your... great-great-great-grandmother. Thanks to that pokéball, my life has been prolonged!" She looked over at Adrian, still sitting and looking as if he was going to fall out of chair. "Yo, man! Snap out it!" He looked at her and fell off his chair. BONK!   
"Oooww!" he said on the floor as Lucy ran over to him. He was helped up when he said to her, "I heard every word you said, but I just couldn't move. Almost as if being tied up and gagged."   
"Ya gotta stop freakin' me out like that!"   
"Heh.. I think the long summer vacation is taking its toll on me." Really, he thought, what else could it be? The story didn't make him sleepy; it wasn't long enough. Something's just wrong with me, he thought. "Well, how about I take a nap?"   
"No! No you don't! I don't want what happened last time happening again!"   
"Okay, but I need something to keep me as awake as possible. The orange juice only lasts so long."   
"How about I give you a little buzz?"   
"Huh?" She walk over and promptly shocked him. He jumped up and felt the serge of energy run through him. "Waah! That's just what I needed! Wooo... what a jolt!"   
"See? I knew it!"   
"Hmm... So, what else happened?"   
"Well..." 

"I went with her. Alen didn't go back into his ball until a couple days later. Before she called him back, she showed her other pokémon. She had a dragonair, golduck, and gengar. I was surprised she had the dragonair, until he told me how he ended up with her. The other two also told me that were passed down from previous generations. The golduck just loved to show off his muscles and physical powers to anything female. He's just one weird quack, is all I'm sayin'. He promptly showed off in front of me before he went back into his ball. Heh, like I'm impressed... HEY, DUCKBOY!!" She yelled and a pokéball immediately sprang open; out came the golduck.   
"What's it wit you and yo mout?!" he said with a very bad Jamaican accent. "Da name's Duckman ta you, sista!"   
"Me an' him just love to mouth off at each other."   
"Oh, an' anota ting, I saw light in your eyes when I winked at you!"   
"Ha, the light of me preparing to shock you, D-boy!"   
"Please, don't show me how well you two get along..." Adrian finally said. The two pokémon looked at him, and said in unison, "Who's talkin' to you?" Obviously these two just like to fight with words instead of their fists, Adrian thought. Maybe if I slip outside....   
"Where do you tink you goin', huh? You sittin' in dat chair and you prepare ta listen." Duckman decided to sit on one of the chairs surrounding the table. "I've a story ta tell ya." 

"Befo' I met da human, I was jus' like any oter psyduck. I din't have any family, dough. I made a livin' impresin' woman with just how much power I had. I was really better tan any oter. Grrls would come and pet da duck and feed da duck and they would get a good laugh. I loved messin' with da ladies! Heh... old habit die hard. Anyway, she come along and she din't pet da duck. She din't feed da duck, or look at da duck! I try an' try to get her attention, until she finally look. She gaze at me with eyes dat make me stop foolin' around. There was someting on her mind, but I couldn't figure her out. So, I went an' sat in front a her, and look, with my mind. I saw dat she had recently lost someone important, and she wanted to talk to someone but that she couldn't. I look at her again and said, 'Bad tings happen to good people. I can see dat you are hurtin' inside, and I don't like to see a woman sad.' She look at me and smile and said that she was grateful, but dat I couldn't help. I told her dat I will help, even if I have ta follow you and give up my act. She look at me wit such a smile that it made me feel good. I help her relieve dat stress she had bundled inside-a her. She was so tankful an' she was going back ta dat place when I said ta her dat she needed me. She knew it, an' she took me in. She took out a ball and place it on ground and said to touch it if I would like to join her. I walk up to it and I push da button. It open and it suck me in."   
"Was that really how you met her, Dee?" Lucy teased.   
"O'course! Hmmph.... you neva believe a word I say!"   
"Well I believe it." Adrian said. "I don't doubt that you met her like that. So, when did you evolve?"   
"Oh, dat took place about two years late-a. She call out Alen an' she said to 'strut ya stoff!' O'course I din't like battlin', but she wanted me to grow and be stronger. Alen was my sparin' part-a-nar! He showed me how to focus ma abilities an' how to sense a little into da future. All da learnin' expanded ma mind, until I just changed. She was so surprise when it happen. Now I could really impress da ladies! Ha ha! Oh it was a fun life." He nodded then looked at Lucy. "Den dis ting come along and ruin EVRYting!" he thumbed.   
"Hey... you know I'd only do it for Da-boy," Lucy said grinning a not so friendly grin.   
"Ah oh... dat's DUCKMAN! DUCK M-A-N, MAN! And I still don't see what so luzzzy about you!" Oh brother, thought Adrian, I really need to leave this conversation. Adrian began to get out of his chair when Duckman stood up and said, "Ah ah aaah.... You ain't goin' nowhere." How annoying can he be? "I jus' need you to tell me how well I look in dis pose." He struck a pose with his back toward Adrian and Lucy, flexing his muscles.   
"How am I supposed to judge that?"   
"Oh, like this," Lucy got up and walked away, lashing her long tail as she walked.   
"Haha! I knew she'd do dat!" Duckman said when Lucy had gone into her pokéball. "Now, onto business." He dropped his accent and sounded normal. "I act differently around certain people so that they feel good about themselves. I know where Lucy there comes from; she didn't tell you the full story. Even in a pokéball us psychic types can tell what's going on outside. She is very emotionally damaged. When she was a pichu, her parents were killed from a raid of graveler. She did her best to try to fend off those beasts, but she couldn't do it alone. All the others ran, but she and her parents stayed to try to fend them off. Her father was the first to go down. He had valiantly kicked through several when they ganged up on him. She couldn't save him. Her mother died saving her life. One came from behind and was going to slam her, but her mother pushed her out of the way before she got squashed. She went into a rage upon seeing her mother speak her last breath. Pichu are not known for their abilities as powerful fighters, but she changed the rules. She used all the agility she had to fly across the entire group of graveler and confuse them. She was so fast that she was nicknamed Lightning afterward, but of course it didn't stick. She shot so fast that she began to break the sound barrier with each jump and quick attack, and the graveler couldn't stand the sonic blasts of so many explosions. They retreated after a few minutes of being at ground zero for the blasts of sound. Your mother still doesn't know this story, and I would like to keep it that way."   
"Wow, by the way she spoke, it's as if what you said isn't true."   
"It is true. I'm telling you because you need to know where all of us came from. She told me this a year after she joined us. I decided to take her to a local pub I knew. She seemed very stressed out about something and I thought maybe she needed a different atmosphere. We walked in and the bartender saw that I had a lady with me. 'So, you found anotha one, eh? Heh heh...' I told him that this wasn't one of those girls; that she needed to calm down. I told him to bring two of the lightest drinks he had. This was not fun time." Duckman looked back at her pokéball. "I wanted her to tell me what was making her tremble. That was when she told me. The story she made up was good enough to fool your ancestor, but not me. She told me about the way those pokémon attacked. It almost seemed that they were not free pokémon. Graveler rarely come down the mountains on purpose, and they would never attack other pokémon. I did my best to help her and she hugged me when she had nothing else to tell me. She asked to do that little accent when I was in her presence, so her mind would not be on that incident all the time. It pleased me to see her happy, so I kept it up. The other pokémon here don't know this story either, so don't tell them. I hope, someday, this knowledge you get from the past will help you. Also, your strange dreams and weird sleeping habits.... I would like to be there when you fall asleep next time. I would like to see what your mind sees when it happens, okay?"   
"Ya, okay. yawn..... I am a little tired now; follow me to my room." Adrian got up from the chair and walked to his room with Duckman following. Ollie was on the bed. "Hey kitty." Duckman then looked at the cat and he left the room.   
"Now, lie on the bed," Duckman almost commanded. Adrian sat on the bed, then got comfy. His eyes closed and didn't open. Duckman put his hand on Adrian's head and tried to enter his mind. When Adrian finally slept, Duckman tried his hardest to see into Adrian's mind. 

An open field and a blue horizon shown through hazy clouds. Adrian stood alone and looked up. He saw two moons and a dark red sun far away. He looked to the horizon and saw a blue sun setting in front of him. "Where... am I?" he said after looking to see no one around him. He finally looked at his feet; ashes were everywhere. "Is everything... burned?" A shadow came from the distance. He braced himself; why he didn't know. The shadow was that of a ghost. It didn't look like anything he had ever seen. It slowly came forward and faced Adrian.   
"Yes, all life has stopped," it said without emotion.   
"How... How could such a thing happen?" Adrian almost shouted.   
"A great war. In your time pokémon will be used as weapons; stripped of all free thought. A purpose will be implanted into them: destroy all who oppose. I am the last; ................ The alpha and beta died in the war, trying to save this planet from destruction. But they couldn't do it, and the world died. This is the aftermath; .............. The ashes you see are those that lost their lives to the earth. Those that fought have no remains. I am the omega; the .......... I am .........; I am a ghost. This planet is slowly ........... it received it from. If the alpha or the beta had ........, this world would begin again. The time is over a ...................... the world would stop burning, and slowly wither. This solar system ........................ .............., and some would fall apart and ................................. gravitational field. The sun ....................... All these things will ............... started the war ........................ such a war would cause to innocent lives. You have the power to ......... destruction; it's all in your mind. The .......... hear will change the course of history for the better. For this planet's ...., I don't want to .......................; I don't want to see ............................. this world; I don't want to see.... hope die. I want to see this planet become full with life. You are that last piece of hope that this planet has.... You are................" Adrian looks up and the ghost disappeared. Me? The last hope? Who were alpha and beta? Why does this war happen? Why? A bright light shines as the blue star erupts and explodes. A large chunk flies in the sky and hits the earth. "Awaken."   
Adrian opens his eyes and sees that Duckman is on the floor. Adrian gets out of bed and picks up the golduck. He notices that he is breathing and puts him on the bed. For a long time Duckman remained still. Finally he awakens.   
"Uhh.... oh......" he was shaking badly. ".....your mind; it survived....."   
"Slow down. You look like you had a few rounds with Lucy. I'll go get you something to drink." Duckman's head rose, and his body glowed for a second and stopped trembling.   
"No, stay here. I'll be fine. You are something else."   
"How so?"   
"I couldn't even hold on to you when you slept. I tried to latch on, but I was psychically shocked and thrown from your mind. I can't look into your head. You are different."   
"Hmm... Well I remember some from the dream, but not a lot of it was not clear. It's like trying to see the stars behind the daytime sky. It said that I should continue to listen to the stories the pokémon have. The thing that said it called itself omega, and that the alpha and the beta failed to survive the war and-."   
"Woh.. woh. What you're saying is out of my league. The others need to speak to you. Perhaps then you will know all of what was said."   
"Perhaps you're right. Anyway, you need to rest; I think you need it." Adrian left the room and sat at the kitchen table. It was morning again and his mother was sitting at the table drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. "Morning Mom."   
"Good morning Adrian. Last night I heard a scream. I think it was Duckman, but something told me to not go and check. Is he all right?"   
"Yes, he's fine."   
"Oh, Lucy's in the back; she wants to speak with you." Adrian opened the back door and saw the raichu sitting and staring at the horizon. He walked over to her and sat next to her.   
"About last night..."   
"It's fine. Listen, I know your real past; Duckman told me. I said I believed you when you told me, but deep down I wasn't sure. That is probably why he told me; I knew something was odd."   
"Oh," she began to cry, "why did it happen? I could never figure it out. Why did my parents have to die in order for me to live?"   
"I think it has something to do with fate. You were destined to become part of this larger family, and so certain events had to happen in order for the outcome to become what it is now."   
"D-man told me that bad things happen to good people. Was he just humoring me? He bought us some drinks and I think something was in the drinks."   
"He told me that he did it to try and help you. He wanted to find out what had you so troubled. He also said that he hates to see ladies stressed over something. From how he sounded, it seemed that he had done this before. He wanted to see you happy when he saw you tremble. He is one that cares about others and I am glad to have met such a person."   
"You speak as if he's human."   
"Why shouldn't I? As far as I'm concerned, all of you are not animals, you are people, because you have heart. Animals are those that have been brainwashed into obeying every command; those unlucky to have people treat them like people. I will never order or condemn any pokémon to do anything. I can't just order someone I know to do things. Remember, Lucy, you have a family here; you always will. You can talk to us and we will try to comfort you. If this family's history has taught me anything so far, it's to not be ignorant of other's feelings."   
"Thank you, Adrian. It makes me happy to hear you say such things, but I need some more time here."   
"I will be inside if you need anything." Adrian got up and walked back inside. His mother had already left and he had the house to himself again. 

______________________________________________________________ 


	4. Part 4: Speed, Meat, and Dreams...

______________________________________________________________   
Part 4: Speed, Meat, and Dreams

Adrian walked over to the couch and sat down. Wow, he thought, this whole experience has brought a better person in me. He turned on the TV only to find that nothing of interest was showing. He turned it off and just lay on the couch. Ollie walked over, jumped on his lap, and meowed. "Hey, kitty!" Adrian rubbed the cat's back and belly when the cat plopped on his stomach. "You're such a cute little Ollie-meowy-kitty." The cat meowed in response, and started to purr softly. Adrian chuckled. A few moments later, Duckman walked out of Adrian's room and was stretching. He waved to Adrian and Ollie and entered his pokéball. Lucy came in a minute later and entered her pokéball as well. Adrian thought a minute; should he summon one of the pokémon? His question was answered when a ball opened and a rapidash appeared. He wanted to go outside, but had no hands to grip the door knob with. "I'll get it for you," Adrian said as he placed the meowth on the couch. He got up and walked over to the door and opened it. "Where you going today?"   
"I'm going to run for a bit. Being inside that little ball all the time makes me ache!"   
"Mind if I ride you while you go? I have nothing else to do."   
"Sure! It's been a while since someone has ridden on my back. These old legs need a work out anyway." Adrian got on the firehorse's back after walking outside. The feel of the air rushing over felt good. He held on to the horse's chest since they never put reins on the horse. He kept going faster and faster until Adrian felt no wind, no resistence, but heard a sonic boom. "We just broke the sound barrier!" Dasher yelled back as he zoomed at top speed down a long stretch of deserted road. If he had wings he could give a pigeot a run for its money! Dasher's long fire-mane whipped in the wind as he started to slow down. After they reached a full stop, Adrian dismounted.   
"If I wasn't on your back you could've taken to the skies!"   
"I could a long time ago. I could cause my flames to become almost solid and form wings. I remember it was because of this that I couldn't race. The speed that is. My speed couldn't be controlled. Sure I could race and shoot ahead of everyone else, but I couldn't turn when the track rounded. I always kicked up dirt but I could not turn. I had inherited my speed from both my parents, so I was the outright fastest thing there ever was, and possibly there ever will be. I used to race when I was ponyta, challenging older race hardened rapidash. I would usually win because I was the lightest on my feet and I had the strengths of my parents to back me up. When I became rapidash, it was over; I was too fast. My siblings were better when they became rapidash, they didn't pass their top speed ten times over like I did. My parents loved speed, and when they heard just how fast I had become, they were proud. I was their son, and I was the fastest thing alive to them."   
"Incredible! Having too much speed for a race horse is something to behold! But whatever happened for you to come to us?"   
"Well, it came time to give away young extras to people who wanted to race. I wasn't one of them, but I needed to leave. This place was too... 'slow' for me, and I needed to flex my legs. I saw a young woman at that auction that I had the urge to meet. She saw that I was looking at her and she had a sparkle in her eye. After the auctions, she came and asked about me. My original owner thought it a lovely idea that she take me, since no one was interested in a horse too fast to even turn on a rounded track. She paid him and I was presented to her. I looked at her face and saw a bright smile and that sparkle in her eyes. She held out her hand to my nose. I sniffed the hand and licked it. She then placed her hand on my back, rubbing my flames. My original owner looked in awe. 'Wow, I've never seen him look so pleased. I'm glad he's happy. Please, Miss, take good care of the fastest-thing-on-four-legs, here. His name is Dasher, and he has his mother's stubborn heart.' And then she lead me out of the room and into the open world. She didn't ride me until we had walked onto the long stretch of highway about two blocks from the track. She got on and held my reins. She then told me to run. I was surprised; all anyone said to me was slow down! Anyway, I took off; she almost flew out her seat when I flew from standing still to break-neck speed in just a few seconds! I held the pace, until the street started to curve. The curve was long enough for me to slow down and take it. She told me directions to where her house was. She said it was over a hundred miles away, and she came without a car. I didn't know what a car was, but I assumed that it was a long trip for her. She then told me to go as fast as I could on the longest stretch of highway. I darted; faster and faster until I broke the sound barrier for the first time. I didn't know what that boom was as I soared down the stretch. There were other things on the road; I would learn that these were the cars. I could leap from side to side, but I couldn't turn into another direction. I dodged all the cars that came up to me with grace. It was when I had to leap for an especially big one that I flew. I was running in the air and I hovered over the ground for about a minute. We finally reached another curve, but I knew I couldn't slow down in time. A pokémon came from her and was able to make a turn in direction before we slammed into a wall. It was Alen, her alakazam. When we finally got to her house, he touched my head with one of his spoons. I felt a somewhat strange feeling, as if being taught how to do something but you already knew it when it came up. When he took his spoon from my head, he looked at me and grinned. He put his spoons somewhere in his little plate of armor, then put his hand over his large mustache and stroked it. 'Another one successful. You're getting good at this,' he said to the woman, in human language. 'Well, I saw him on TV, and I knew he would be a good addition!' she said when she looked back at me. I asked her what her name was and she told me; it was Gina." He started to walk around and kick up dirt. "How about we go for another run?"   
"Heh.. Fine with me!" Adrian got on his back and held on as he took off. Dasher's flames began to encompass them more like a bullet this time. He ran hard and was slowly beginning to pant. He concentrated and the flames began to harden into wings. He began to flap them and he took to the skies. Adrian looked around and saw that they were high in the sky. He looked in the distance and saw Charla coming to them.   
"I haven't seen you this frisky in a while!" she shouted as she came up to them.   
"Charla, so good to see you! I needed to stretch myself a little!" Dasher shouted back. They needed to shout because of the speed at which they were traveling. Dasher began to pant a little heavier. "I'm going to see if I can still break the sound barrier while I'm flying!   
"I know you can!" Charla shouted as she gave a thumbs up to him. He nodded, caught his breath, and poured on the speed. He left Charla 'in the dust.' He broke it not once, but two times while on a dive! He was tired from expending so much energy that he made a sloppy landing, almost falling over, next to the house.   
"Are you all right?" Adrian asked, concerned, after picking himself up.   
"huff... I'll be ....huff.... fine." His gasping stopped within a couple of minutes. "Now I need a monster-meal!"   
"What is it that you eat?"   
"I mostly eat veggies, but I've recently been exposed to meats, from Charla; so I would say anything." Adrian was about to walk inside to see what was in the fridge when Charla set down with a large kill.   
"No need. I got enough here for all of us." Charla promptly tore a limb off and held it next to Dasher. "Come on, you know you want it," she teased as she waved it. Dasher stepped forward and bit into the blood soaked flesh.   
"Okay, okay! I got it!" He ripped the meat from the bone and began chewing; his nose had a little red spot on it. "Mmmm... munch.... Good stuff, good stuff."   
"Nidoqueen meat is soft enough for you so you don't have to chew it like a cow."   
"Mind if I have some?" Adrian said, looking at a meat filled limb.   
"Sure... Do you want it cooked?"   
"No, it's fine." Adrian grabbed the limb he was looking at and pulled. The meat tore and he had the limb in his hands. He bit into the blood rich meat and got blood all over his face and shirt. "Whoops.... oh well." After a little bit of gorging, Charla looked up and saw Adrian's face.   
"Ha, just like a charmander! Heh heh...." She continued to gorge on what was left inside the rib cage. Dasher walked over and tried to rip some meat from a large rib, but he couldn't get his mouth around it.   
"A little help here, please?" Adrian walked around to where Dasher was and dug his fingers into the rib. He tore the rib right out! He then stripped the meat from the bone with his hand. "Woh, Adrian! How did you..."   
"Huh? What?" he said as if he snapped out of a trance. He dropped the rib and meat next to Dasher when he saw it in his hand. Charla looked over and saw what Adrian did. She took her head out from the lower region of the torso and looked at his work. She blew a little flame.   
"Whew, man. Meat's clean off the bone! I only saw one man ever do that with his bare hands and that was Crimson," she looked at Adrian's hands and saw blood dripping from the short nails. "Dude, you're like cool!" she added with a little sly grin. Adrian looked at his hands and saw them covered with blood. He then looked at the body where the rib came from. As if something else snapped in his head, he made a quick motion and snapped another rib from the cage. He began to eat it as if his life depended on it. He tossed it aside and reached in for another; this time getting four! He continued and ended up eating the whole rib cage of its meat! Charla and Dasher stood in awe. They had never seen a human act so non-human before. Adrian got out of the large chest area and looked at them. Charla put her hands in front of herself and spoke in her native tongue. "Adrian, are you there?" What was Adrian looked at her, cocked his head, and pointed at himself.   
"Me? Am me Adrian?" He wasn't speaking human language. He then looked at his hands and saw that they were a darkening red. He then looked at his red stained clothes. "What is this?" he asked pointing at the garments. This time Dasher answered.   
"Those are clothes. They protect your dignity." Dasher almost chuckled at what he had said. Adrian looked at Dasher and Charla.   
"Who you, rapidash? And who you, charizard?" They spoke their names. "Me need cleaning. You, charizard, blow small flame.. me."   
"What?!" Charla was surprised. He wanted to be cleaned using fire. "You'll never live!"   
"Quiet! Do what me say, please." Charla shrugged, and blew a small fire hesitantly. Adrian walked into it and his clothes caught fire. He raised up his hand, signaling to bring up the heat. Charla did just that, incinerating his clothes. Adrian walked out of the fire, unscathed but clean. He was in his birthday suit, though. His back faced the other two. His skin seemed very tightly wrapped on his slender body. He was facing what was left of Charla's kill when he ripped to skin right off the body! He covered himself with it, blood-soaked side out. He turned to the two and said, "Umm, what did I just do?" Dasher stepped up.   
"You seemed to be in some sort of trance, possibly from the meat. You then ate that thing's ribs and asked Charla to flame you. I saw the clothes turn to ash and you stepped out of the fire without being burned. You then just tore the skin off the dead thing and are now wearing it." Adrian looked at him, then Charla, and then fainted. 

He opened his eyes. He saw a vast field with green grass and small, stubby trees. He saw a clear, blue sky with some small, puffy clouds hanging overhead. A perfect day, he thought. Then, something smacked him in the head; it was a heart, and it was still beating. He thought of being grossed out, but that never came. The heart lay in his hands and was beating. He turned around and saw a meowth. It was Ollie. Adrian thought of calling his name, but the cat came to him without hesitation. The cat looked up at him and meowed. "Is this your heart?" The cat nodded. "I suppose I should return it, then." He held the heart and bent down to meet the cat at eye level. "Here, take it." The cat rose from his sitting and presented an open chest. The spot where the heart was supposed to be was empty. Adrian placed the heart back into the spot where it should have been and looked at his hands; they where clean. He rubbed the cat's back and closed the chest. "There." The cat glowed and disappeared. The world began to shake and rumble. "What?!" He finally saw something in the distance as the world shook. It had a figure he had never seen. It hovered over to Adrian and spoke.   
"You are the one." It looked at Adrian with eyes that glowed a light blue. "You are immune to my power; no one else is immune to me. You... you are the one."   
"The one what?"   
"You don't know? You will learn in time, child. You will learn." His eyes stopped glowing and he went back to where he came. Adrian was left puzzled, until the world started to vanish. His sight went black, and he awoke. 

"He's awake! Adrian, what happened?!" It was Dasher, nudging Adrian with his nose.   
"Shh... he's just now waking up. Adrian, raise a finger if you can hear me." It was Lucy. Adrian moved his hand and began to get up. He still had the nido's skin on. Making sure it properly covered him, he turned and twisted it. He then turned around and looked at the concerned pokémon.   
"How long was I out?"   
"Only a couple a hours. I still don't know what happened. I tried ta shock you awake, but my bolts never fazed you. You're sure you're okay? I was giving you some pretty powerful jolts." Lucy stepped over and slapped his back. "I thought I told you not ta do that!" Adrian grinned and looked over at Dasher.   
"Where's Charla?"   
"She went into her pokéball. She tapped on Lucy's and then she went into her own. I think something dawned on her, but I don't know what it was. Also, Lucy's shocks incinerated the blood that was on the skin, so I suppose we should at least keep it."   
"Well, I gotta get me some clothes. This hide is itchy." Adrian walked back into the house and into his room. He got some clothes and went into the bathroom to shower. He was in there for about twenty minutes when he came out fully clothed. "Ah, nothing like a cold shower!" He took the hide and placed it on one of the chairs at the kitchen table. He went to the fridge and got the milk jug. He got a glass and poured himself two glassfuls. He put the milk back and the glass in the sink and sat on the couch. Ollie came to him.... and spoke.   
"Thank you, Adrian!"   
"Waaah.... you spoke to me! Uhh.. well, I suppose,..... you're... welcome....?"   
"I speak all the time, but you never seemed to hear me until now. Anyway, you saved me from the prison I was in when I was raised. My original owner never cared for me, but you came and saved me. I had a dream about you giving me back my heart."   
"Funny, I had a dream when I fainted. You were there and I put your still beating heart back into your chest."   
"Yes, mine was like that, only I woke up afterward."   
"Well, I don't think that was a coincidence, but that sure is strange. I'm glad you are now yourself again!" Adrian remained on the couch stroking Ollie's back until his mother came home from work.   
"Hi, Honey! How was your day?" she asked, as if she was just itching to know. Adrian looked at her, then at Ollie, then back at her. "Oh, just layin' around petting the cat? Well my day was just fine!" She set her things on the table and flopped on the couch next to her son. "Shall I tell you?" Adrian shrugged, then nodded. Ollie jumped from his lap and walked into the kitchen. Adrian turned and saw that Dasher was still outside. He got up and walked to the door and let him in. He said 'Hi' to Adrian's mother and then went into his pokéball. "So Dasher came out and ran today, huh? That's good; I knew he was going to come out sometime. Well, I may as well tell you about my day!" She spoke of how some patient tried to make a pass on her and that she flashed a scalpel and said she knows what to slice to let him have a fun day. She also spoke of some of the other patients she had and some of their conditions. After about an hour of her releasing the day's stresses, Adrian felt about ready to sleep.   
"I can handle stories, but not the stresses of a nurse of the daytime," he said as he left for his room. Ollie was waiting for him on his bed.   
"I just love this bed you sleep on! I've been saying that for a long time, and now I know you can hear me!" Ollie was sprawled out on the bed as Adrian sat on one end. Adrian began to lie down and get comfy next Ollie.   
"Well, I'm glad I can finally understand you. Goodnight, key-tee...." Ollie looked over at Adrian and grinned a satisfied grin as he fell asleep. Adrian fell asleep too, after about ten minutes of watching Ollie. He dreamed.... 

He was in the same place as his last dream, only the being that spoke to him made himself visible. It had a large sculpted head with a pipe made of flesh connecting the back of the head to the lower neck; that head had two small horn-like ears coming from the top-back-sides. It had deep purple eyes with a glance as cold as iron. It had thin arms with hands that were three-fingered. It had long, thick legs and a tail of the same thickness. Its feet were arched high and had three toes each, one toe on each foot seemed to not really be a toe. The creature stood in front of Adrian for a minute to let Adrian take in his image. It then spoke.   
"Your name is Adrian, correct?" Adrian looked a little shocked; his dream wasn't sure who the dreamer was. Adrian nodded. "I cannot look very deep into your mind, otherwise I would have found you in reality." So he wasn't a dream. "I am a being known as 'Mewtwo' to humans. To pokémon, they call me 'Mew,' since I was once one. I have never found a human that resisted my power so much until I followed you into your dream; only mew are able to elude my psychic power. I can look into the dreams of people and pokémon alike, but yours were the hardest to enter. I finally entered when you fainted; your mind was at its weakest. When I saw you give that meowth his heart back, I knew you were the one I was looking for; the one I am to teach. No one else has that kind of power you possess; not even me or the real mew. With a mind as omnipotent as your own, you need to be taught how to control this power. I was used by a human once, and was hooked up to a machine. This machine really showed me how to focus my powers, but this man only cared that I was his slave. I can help you attain similar knowledge without such an agreement as he proposed to me." He held out his hand. "You have power within you; enough to destroy this world and many others if not focused correctly. I don't want to see this world die, at least not by a child's hands." His eyes let go of the cold glare in favor for a friendly stare. His mouth grinned slightly. "Will you come to me?" Adrian was confused at all this. He had been told many things, but now this coming from a pokémon hurt by humans? Adrian put his hands on his head; his head was aching.   
"You wish me to become your student so my powers can be controlled?! This can only be something created from the far reaches of my imagination. How can you exist to serve a human; me? If the reports were true, you were bioengineered to be the greatest pokémon in existence, but in your mind you had no purpose, no real reason for being, right?"   
"That is incorrect data, but I DID learn that a reason for living is not important; what you do with the life given to you is. That is what I need to do; to help save this planet from a deadly fate. I cannot take different forms the same way the real mew can, so she has been traveling to find you. Who knows, she could be any pokémon or any human you know. Her only limitation is that she can only transform into female versions of anything; so if she were a human, she would have the features of a female human. Think about my offer; it will always be open and I will not hurt you, or could hurt you for that matter." Adrian looked at the ground and spoke to the pokémon.   
"I must know one thing: what is your name? What do you think it would be?" The creature rubbed his chin.   
"Hmm... I never really cared for a name; Mewtwo seemed appropriate at the time. Hmph... your mind seeks history; it thirsts for knowledge. I will be Mewtwo, since I never thought about naming myself. It'll have to do for now." Adrian thought a second, trying to remember words said in a previous dream. He finally remembered them and looked up at Mewtwo.   
"You are the beta one of my previous dreams spoke of, right? And Mew is the alpha..." Mewtwo looked a little confused.   
"Beta? Alpha? I do not know what it is you speak of; it could not be us. Perhaps they are types of pokémon. Even I do not fully know what lurks in this planet or outside it in space. The answer could be inside you somewhere." Adrian thought again.   
"I have had other dreams of this nature, but they always stopped before I could ask the right questions or receive the right answers. It will only be a matter of time when another dream happens and I listen to someone awakened from a story told to me. It has been happening, but I was never told a story involving you." Adrian thought a bit harder. "My first dream had a creature similar to you in it, but it was small, and didn't say anything except what sounded like your 'mew' word. Was that.... Mew?" Mewtwo took a step back. He had shock in his eyes... for a second.   
"She found you and she did not say anything to me?" He looked hurt, but then snapped out of it. "She knows you are the one, but she is waiting for the right time. Adrian, you must leave the dreaming and continue your quest for knowledge of the past. She will make the right decision when it is time. I hope I see you here, where I am, soon. We will discuss your flawed information about me and anything else when you are here." Mewtwo then glowed and slowly vanished. Adrian looked over at something else; it was in a small depression in the ground: a small square. He picked it up and it turned out to be a card with strange markings on it. He couldn't read it, but he put it in his pocket. The dream slowly ended as the world vanished into black and Adrian awoke from his slumber. 

______________________________________________________________ 


	5. Part 5: Supersensible Luck...

______________________________________________________________   
Part 5: Supersensible Luck...

Adrian awoke from his slumber at the dawn of a new day. Ollie was still sleeping next to him, silently purring away. Adrian rose and got out of the bed. Something spiked him in the hip when he stood up. He reached in his pocket and withdrew a small, square card. 'Must be from the dream.... But how?' He didn't think too much of it, so he placed it on top of his dresser and walked out of the room. His mother was at the kitchen table, drinking her morning cup of coffee and reading the newspaper.   
"Morning Honey!" she said when she heard the door to the fridge open. He was getting his morning drink: milk and tangy orange juice. After he shook off the sleepiness, he went and sat on the couch in front of TV, got the remote, and turned it on. Most channels had 'American' style cartoons showing in the morning and only a couple had 'Animé'. He watched one of the 'Animé' cartoons and was thrilled with the story-line! The new 'American' ones just couldn't cut it like they used to; the old ones were filled with gags and humor. The 'Animé' one he was watching had a good mix of humor and story, so it kept him watching until the episode ended. His mother had already left and he had the house to himself again.   
He got up from the couch and walked outside. Lucy was out there practicing her agility and thunder abilities. She stopped right in front of him, using all her speed to just appear out of nowhere. 

"Waaaaaaaaazzzzzuuuuuuuuupp!" 

She shouted the instant she was in front of Adrian. He jumped and landed on the ground in an uncomfortable manner.   
"I should have seen it comin'!" he yelled at himself after he landed. He got himself together and stood again. "So, what'cha up to?"   
"Practicin'! I don't wanna become flabby from not movin' around for a while. Hmm..., seems you could benefit too," she said, poking the little gut Adrian was forming from laying around, having weird dreams, and eating raw meat.   
"Hey hey! Stop that!" he said as she tickled.   
"Well, Alen's out here absorbing my thunder so that I can build up my electricity again. He's such a good sport; of course none of my bolts can really hurt him." She and Adrian walked over to Alen. He looked at Adrian and smirked.   
"Aah..., so this boy inherits us? Hmm.. I can't say I've ever gotten to know you. I'm Alen, an alakazam. I have helped most of the pokémon here learn how to talk to humans. It will be a good story for you." Alen already knew the trend Adrian was starting with stories. After another thunder bolt from Lucy, he said that he had enough and that he wanted to talk. Lucy went inside the house and into her pokéball. Alen stayed outside with Adrian. "I have been to many places; I choose not to count. I have been passed down for many hundreds of your generations, each to the one offspring of the family. I have lived well over six thousand years because of a skill I learned: I stopped my own aging when I was several hundred years old. I am old, but not the oldest. The time I have spent training my mind farther has made my powers strong, but I am not the most powerful psychic. Hmmm... from what I can tell, I cannot look into your mind. Duckman told me this when he tried to look into your dream and was slammed out of it. Please, sit down, I would like to try something." Adrian sat and Alen took out his spoons. He concentrated and his spoons began to glow. The grass around Adrian began to stand and parts of the ground began to rise, but Adrian was not lifted into the air. After a few seconds the grass went normal. Alen was still concentrating, but nothing seemed to happen. All of a sudden a large orb of psychic energy was thrown at Adrian from Alen's spoons. Adrian put his arms up to block; the ball seemed to smack him dead on. After the dust settled, Adrian remained exactly where he was sitting. The ball never fazed him, or touched him for that matter. Alen looked on in shock. "How did you sit through my most powerful technique?! Nothing could have come from a hit like that and still just sit there! Hmmm... something's not right. What a weird feeling, not knowing something of this nature. Well, I suppose you want to know how it all started, right? I cannot look into your mind, so I have to guess!"   
"Yeah, I would like to know, but first, what was it that you sent at me?"   
"Psychic Blast: a very destructive attack that can harm others physically and mentally. I have only used it twice before. On both accounts, the recipients didn't know where, who, or what they were for a whole week. Nothing happened to you, so you are somehow immune to my abilities, and that of Charla and Lucy. Hmmmm... Well, let me get started on that story." 

"When we are born, we are alone; we don't have family. The first thing I learned was how to teleport. All abra must know how to teleport. While in the abra state, we cannot really learn new skills, or attack others. We just teleport to safety and that's that. Some abra, however, spend their time learning non-psychic things, like how to defend themselves with Fighting type attacks. The number of abra that do this is incredibly small, so consider yourself lucky; I was one of those abra that fought back early on. Humans were not really a threat back then like some are now, so I was free to go anywhere I wanted and to practice fighting against others. All I met liked the fact that a usually lonesome individual was having fun with others. I took many in my teleporting ways to lakes or the tops of large mountains so they could see the world I could see. It made me happy to see others' eyes brighten with knowledge of the sights. I learned how to be caring, something abra do not learn early on. I found various machop and spared with them for a while, becoming stronger and faster. Those exposed to my psychic aura long enough began to benefit with mind enhancing skills. One machop I spared with grew with mental power and began to evolve while fighting with me. I had to look up to the new machoke; he was twice my size. He looked himself over then looked at me. He knelt down and hugged me; I had caused him to grow. He was now ready for the new challenge of exploring the world... for a new challenge, I could only go so far with him and he didn't want to teleport around. 'I wish to scale the mountains, swim the seas, walk the earth,' were his words, and he left. He was my best friend. I didn't grow until about sixty years from that day; it didn't seem that long at the time. I had so many skills when the time came that I didn't really consider myself a psychic. It was another hundred years before I met a human for the first time. His name was Thorn. He was, in my opinion at the time, one who seemed to have bad luck. I found him on the side of a small river with a big backpack. He was hiking alone in a nearby mountain when he slipped and fell a long way into the river before ending up on the side. I can't say his luck was all bad; he did survive and he did meet me. I helped him from his state of unconscienceness and he was happy for the help. He told me about himself and how his life was one big goof after another. I decided to go with him because I couldn't believe just how one person could have so many accidents happen without doing much to provoke them. It turned out to be true when we walked down a well worn path: he slipped on some loose gravel and fell on his face! I helped him up and he patted himself off. Heh, at the time, I couldn't believe the mental strength this man had towards these kinds of strange occurrences; he just shrugged them off and continued on his way. I could not do that; this sort of thing would cause me to have headaches and migraines just waiting for the next one to happen to take action; a certain sense of paranoia would envelope me and make me not do anything and fear doing things. He just kept walking as if nothing happened! It was just something hard for me to comprehend back then. I decided to stay with him, to try and learn how he was just shrugging it off. This was a fruitless effort though; all I learned was that the human mind learned to deal with things quicker than most because it responds differently to different things. sigh..... I stayed just to watch how many accidents this man would have and it turns out he had one every one to four hours, except when sleeping: nothing ever happened. I did not really need sleep then, so I was able to watch him sleep and monitor some of his activities. Back then, humans didn't know much about pokémon, or at least nothing was written on the subject." Alen looked at Adrian, who was still sitting and looking at a fixed point in space. Adrian looked up at Alen when he noticed the pause.   
"Wow, someone with seemingly horrible luck. I suppose even those cursed with bad luck can have good days, he met you!"   
"Yes, I would say his bad luck came into his favor when another event happened: he stumbled into a small saloon one time and fell flat on his face in front of a woman. He did not make the mistake of looking up at the woman from where he was, although I don't think he saw who was in front of him. When he got up, the woman looked him up and down, then she looked at me. 'Is that your poky-mon? I ain't neva seen a poky-mon like dat befoe.' She had pale blue eyes and was wearing a tight fitting purple dress with a small shade-umbrella. Her hair was in curls and was slightly blondish - more brown than blonde. Heh... my kind do not forget things easily. Anyway, he introduced himself and me. I was his friend, not underling, was the way he put it. She seemed intrigued; something like me was rare, and the fact that I chose to stay with him was more rare. He tried to order a drink, but the bartender thought what he said was an insult, so he was thrown out. She heard what he said: it was a drink, not an insult. She ordered that drink and brought it to him, outside the place. The woman fell in love with his bad luck. This also struck me as... strange. Another thing that would make one of my kind completely tuned out, but she was attracted to him. There was no doubt about it, she loved him after a few more unexplainable accidents. Years pass, and Thorn married that woman. I suppose another odd thing was that she did not have any living family; they all died while she was young. Well, he was late for his wedding, and his pants dropped while he was saying his vows. Everyone had a good laugh, including Thorn, and the party afterward was a big one with live musicians and him falling on the giant cake that was prepared for the guests. They soon found a good, stable region and built a small house. I helped build it also. He only got his toe stubbed when a plank dropped from the ceiling during the construction of that house. After another year I noticed his wife beginning to get a little big in the belly. I wasn't familiar with the mating trends of humans then, so I was told by her that she was pregnant when I asked her about the growth. Finally the day happened when she would give birth; I used my powers to try to ease her pain, but it was more than I could handle, and I couldn't hang on to her mind... She died while giving birth, the pain destroyed her just as the infant left her. Thorn named the newborn boy Lucky, because he truly was lucky. Thorn told me to handle the boy for a little while because he wanted to dig his lost wife's grave. I thought this also strange. We just disintegrate the dead, but he wanted to bury what was her. I watched him as he toiled for hours with his shovel. No accident ever happened to him during that time of about six hours. He wanted it to be deep and to make sure a wooden coffin would fit. It was during this time that he wept. It seemed to give him strength and determination. When he was done, he went to work on the wooden box. I offered my help, but he turned it down. No accident happened during this time either. Through all the construction and sweat, I could see that he was slowing his pace. He then stopped as he was nailing the frame together. He looked at her. She almost seemed to say something to him, because he turned back around and worked harder and faster. It was finally completed, and he placed her in the coffin, and covered it. He cried as he nailed the lid shut. He then took the coffin and very carefully dragged it outside to the grave. He finally asked for my help. 'I can't just drop her in there. Can you please lower her into the grave nice and easy?' I performed it for him, since I knew there was no possible way then for one man to do it. I also felt obligated. She fell in love with him, not me, and I was worth a lot of money if captured. She was never like that. I felt a sadness I had never felt before. The coffin was resting on the bottom as he slowly covered the grave. The baby was asleep during all of this. I wasn't sure just how I was supposed to take care of a human child when he handed him to me, so I just used my psychic abilities and gave him a happy dream of big clouds and soft grass. When Thorn came in and sat down, I told him what I did with his son and he was surprised. 'You can do that?!!' he almost shouted, looking at his son sleeping soundly on a pillow. He then asked me to give him a little dream, and I did. He needed it, working so hard and nonstop." 

"Well, time passes... Thorn's luck almost seemed to stop being so bad, he only had an accident every other day or so. The boy grew up so fast in front of my eyes. The boy was educated by me, since I am naturally educated in many arts. To please his mind, Thorn would tell him about his life, how he managed, and who his mother was. Sadly, Thorn's luck finally hit at full strength: we were traveling on a boat when a huge storm hit. I tried to use my powers to stop the waves from toppling the boat, but I wasn't strong enough to keep them from coming aboard. I cannot teleport during such clashes of nature. The waves fell over the deck and swept his son overboard. He was out of my power's reach, so Thorn leapt overboard, instinctively. He rescued his son by shoving him within my reach, but Thorn never made it back. His son was horrified, but the storm stopped just as his father died; he didn't drown, his luck took him by stopping his heart. I felt his mind shutdown a minute before the storm suddenly stopped. It was meant to happen, he was supposed to be taken from the living that day. Lucky finally realized that I was powerless to prevent such an event, and that he truly was lucky to have been the son of the man of bad luck. I used my power to get the ship back on course, but then I felt a sharp snap in my mind: a prediction. This now parentless boy would be the ancestor to a great savior several thousand years into the future! A prediction like this was not possible, we can only feel vibes of what could happen up to a week in the future, but thousands of years?! In my mind I felt the strange foreshadowing, but I couldn't place it in any exact time, just that it was past my lifetime. I stayed with Lucky until he found a nice, small town where he settled in and found a good hearted woman. He could not stand to live in the old house because his father would not be there to comfort him. I needed to be in a different place so I could get the vibe again. Somewhere far and high in the sky: a mountain. I teleported to several mountains, but I received nothing. It was somewhere I hadn't visited yet. It took hundreds of years trying to find that place, and in those travels I received the psychic power to stop aging. I was taught this knowledge from a very refined and ancient pokémon.... For some reason I cannot remember who he was. I do not even remember how I met him, all I remember was that he taught me something that would help me live to see that savior. I finally returned to that family I had left. I remember that event because that family couldn't believe that I remembered their 'crazy' ancestors Lucky and Thorn. I was able to track them down by their memories; humans have easy minds to probe, and I could probe hundreds in just hours worth of time. It seemed that Lucky's family line each had just one child, either a boy or girl. Those people carried with them the stories told to them by Lucky: stories of Thorn, his luck, and a kadabra named Alen. A man named Will was in Thorn's bloodline at the time, and he had a wife named Iris and a daughter named Rose." Alen looked at Adrian, who was sitting like a rock- not moving or breathing heavy. Adrian was concentrating on the story, absorbing each word and imaging each event. Alen took out a spoon and waved it in front of Adrian. Adrian stared at the spoon for a second then looked at Alen. He chuckled. "Heh... That was hypnosis, and it just went right over you. I couldn't help not to try, since you seemed to already be in a trance." Snap, something suddenly occurs in Alen's mind, a vibe! "No! You can't be the one, can you?!" Alen concentrated, then he opened his eyes again, suddenly. Adrian remained silent. "You are the one!! You are that savior I had felt! But, what is it you are the savior of?" Adrian looked up at Alen.   
"I have had dreams saying that I was to save the world from a great disaster caused by humans and pokémon. I just thought it was my imagination working on overdrive, but now you seem to think that I'm 'The One.' I don't think I'm this person, though."   
"Well, I just felt a strange vibe coming from you while you were sitting there. It was something I have never felt before, so I must have just jumped to a conclusion too soon. I cannot trust all vibes I sense."   
"So, how was it that you became an alakazam?"   
"Heh, I have been alive three times longer than Charla, so time just took its toll. I became alakazam a few hundred years before Charla was born, and in all that time I grew attached to that human family line. That is why I am here and not anywhere else. My presence was enjoyed by all, since I sometimes took the family of the time to different locations so they could see the world I loved so much. I even took them on a boat to the spot where Thorn died at sea, and every time we went a small storm would brew and puff itself out over the exact location of his death. It is magical, the earth knows that I have come to remember him and pass on the memory of the man of bad luck. He was taken from life by his luck, and so his luck created a small storm over that location that would dump its rain and die out every few days. Perhaps I should take everyone to the site sometime, so you can see the sea as it was so long ago. The area is still intact; it was never settled and will never be settled because of the frequent storms and unpredictable waters." Adrian stood up, stretching his legs.   
"Well, that would be good; getting everyone together to go on a nice little trip to see a natural land mark. Although I don't think Charla, Dasher, or the marowak would like the water much, I do think they might enjoy the trip."   
"Good. I'll get the others and you can go at your mother's discretion." Alen walked inside the house and brought out all the pokéballs. He tapped each one and each opened a second later. All the pokémon popped out and saw the sun on its way to the horizon. Alen psychically told all of them what they might be doing in the following day or two. Charla shivered at the thought of water, but she said she would go. Dasher also wanted to go, but wanted to keep as far away from the water as possible. The others also thought Alen's plan was a good one, and they wanted to go as well. Adrian's mother walked outside from getting home to see all the pokémon talking and agreeing on something.   
"What did I miss?" she asked. Alen looked at her and spoke.   
"I have a plan; we can all go see one of the last remaining places on this earth that is not touched by human industrialization. The spot where my first human friend's luck took him. Will you join us and-or allow Adrian to come with us?"   
"Of course! I wouldn't pass up on that kind of offer! But, just hold on a minute; I have to tell my boss that I'll be gone for a few days on family business. You guys are the last family I have, ya know." Alen nodded, and she went back inside. He then turned to Adrian.   
"You had better get your things together; I cannot teleport us there directly. I still have working ownership of a large boat that we will use to get to that spot. It will be a nice, long, quiet voyage I hope." He then turned to Charla. "The place where the boat is has a large mountain range and forest that is -AHEM- 'needin' a weedin',' if you know what I mean." Charla smiled and gave a thumb's up. Adrian walked over to the house. He looked over his shoulder and saw the few pokémon left that hadn't told him anything about themselves. He had never truly met those pokémon: dragonair, marowak, and gengar. He didn't even know what their names were. He continued to walk inside and went into his room. He located a big suitcase and began to stuff it with clothes. The card on top of his dresser shimmered when he glanced at it. It took hold of his eyes and he continued the glance. 'The card from my dream? But how did it ever come out of my dream?' He took the card and put it in the large front pocket of his suitcase. Maybe the others might know something about it, he thought. All would have one last snooze before they would go on the trip.   
Adrian couldn't sleep; maybe it was the excitement, or was it the card? He walked out of his room and to the fridge for something to drink. He got a glass and filled it with milk. He was about to put it back when Alen walked up to him.   
"Can't sleep?"   
"Yeah... I just can't sleep."   
"I wish my abilities would work on you so you could sleep. I know sleep is important to your kind. Alakazams do not sleep; we are awake one-hundred percent of the time." Adrian looked at him, then put the milk back. He drank the glass in one quick motion and placed it in the kitchen sink. Alen walked outside, and Adrian decided to follow. He looked up at the night sky as he walked through the back door. The sky was filled with bright dots: some yellow, blue, red, even white. Alen looked up as well.   
"Sometimes I wonder if I could have saved Thorn. I could feel the current under us building, and it was just a matter of time before it would happen. So many years I have had to wonder, to think about the time then. I still think of my machop friend who grew because of me. I wonder where he went, what he faced, who he fought. He had such grand dreams of his future: '...scale the mountains, swim the seas, walk the earth...' I wonder if he succeeded in his dreams, although I doubt he is actually alive today, I last saw him when he left on his journey, which was over five thousand years ago." Adrian was standing and listening while looking at the stars. He then looked at the ground, then at his hands. His hands seemed almost to be worn, like his mother's, from hard work. Slender hands with a precise grip, short but sharp nails, a few little scars from playful scratches by Ollie. He then looked back up at the sky.   
"Sometimes I wonder why I am here, why I am me. I wonder how my life came to be, why certain things are. In science class at school we learned that elements make up everything. Water is H2O, so how does the element have a certain feeling when I run my hand through it? I see a liquid substance that flows around when I move my hand in it, I don't see 'water.' I wonder why it doesn't just come into my hand as I move it. It's a silly thing, wondering about things that do not occur or are not so important..... Sometimes I have all the answers for just a brief moment, and then I'm left wondering where the answers went when I thought of them. I have read many books that are for the mind; books with stories within stories. I remember one that had people at an inn tell stories about how they came to be there when a strange storm hit, so they can pass the time. Each is from a different time period in a certain history, and each has a different perspective on the strange events. These sort of things I have read, as well as how a man with power beyond imagination gives them up because he was tired of being what he had become. Such things in books I have read early on, thinking of these stories during free time in class. I'm always in search of a good story, and I have learned how to take the story in my mind and see it happening. Another story told of a girl becoming niched with small dragon-like creatures that many couldn't come close to. Another told of how a group of children who were sucked into a strange world where everything of legend was real and it was being controlled by an evil witch. They succeed in defeating her and become rulers of the land. They make it a place where everything can live in peace, or so they thought. Another told of a long adventure with wizards and knights and magical things. So many stories that stimulate the mind, and.. and none of the other children even wanted to read them! I guess I am just the black sheep amidst all the little white ones, the one that thinks differently. I could never make any real friends out of all the people, only the adults shared some of my views and I didn't really want to associate with some of them. I am glad that you guys are here in this family so that I don't feel completely out of place....." Alen stared at Adrian when he stopped. "You are the first one I have told a little about me. Mom doesn't even know that I am like this, so don't tell her, okay? I don't want to worry her with something of not much importance." Alen looks away for a second.   
"I am glad you told me about yourself. It would have been hard for me to try and figure out because I can't look into your mind. I can see why you seem to be in trance when you are listening, you know how to listen and make a mental picture. Those stories you spoke of, do you still have them? If they captivated you, perhaps I should read them. It just might teach me something I don't know."   
"Yes, I do have them. I'll pack them into my suitcase and you can read them during the boat trip."   
"Good, but do you mind if I read one now? It is still quite early and I read fast."   
"Sure, I'll go get one for you." Adrian walked back inside and into his room. Looking through the various small crates he had of books. He found one that would be a good one for Alen to read first. It was a book entitled The Hobbit. He walked back outside and handed Alen the book. "I am sure you will like this story, although it is a longer tale than most. It is part one in a trilogy of books by the author, J. R. R. Tolkien. I'll also take the others if you finish this one." Alen looks at the book's cover. He then takes out a spoon and makes it glow like a reading lamp. He sits on the ground and suspends the book in front of himself.   
"Thank you Adrian. I will read it." He opens the book with his mind and begins reading. Adrian walks back inside and into his room. He looks for books and begins to put them in his suitcase. When it finally became full he sat on his bed. Ollie was on his pillow, so Adrian put his head under Ollie's belly. The cat purred softly and got comfy next to Adrian's head as he began to sleep.... and dream.... 

He opened his eyes and saw that he was in a large, gray cube. There were no doors or windows. A figure stood in front of him. The figure was one he had seen before.   
"Mewtwo, you wish to speak with me?"   
"Yes, something I didn't tell you about Mew: she has been gone for decades. I can come in contact with her at anytime, but she hasn't been answering me. I think she has found you, but she will not say anything. I was able to feel your Alen's mind, but I cannot teleport. I need Mew in order to teleport. Hmm... I will meet you Adrian, soon. Hopefully you will train under me as my student, so your powers can be tamed. I also felt Alen figuring you out, but he dismissed it." Adrian looks around, then back at Mewtwo.   
"Something I need to know: how did I take something out of a dream?"   
"What?!"   
"Yes, somehow I was able to take this weird card out my dream and into reality. It has strange markings on it and-"   
"It has begun! Your powers are starting to develop! Please, try not to do anything like that until you are with me, so I can help you control such things."   
"So... what do I do with the card?"   
"Keep it and don't show anyone! I should be the first to gaze on this feat of your power."   
"Also, what exactly is this ability I possess? You keep referring to it as some sort of power, what is it?"   
"It's the power in which all abilities come from..." Mewtwo's figure began to fade. He looks at himself, then back to Adrian. "You are waking! On your.. trip... I....." He completely disappears, and Adrian is alone. He begins to think. Why is he so interested in teaching me how to control... whatever it is he thinks I have? What is he going to do about the trip; how did he know about the trip? What is this power he thinks I possess? The cube begins to fade, and Adrian awakes. 

He opens his eyes and looks at his window: light is shining through. Ollie was still cradled to Adrian's head, so Adrian had to move slowly to get out of his grip. He walked out and into the restroom, more to splash water on his face than to relieve some built up pressure. He finished his business and walked out into the kitchen. His mother was there drinking coffee and reading the newspaper, as usual. He did his usual morning routine and walked outside. Alen was still reading.   
"Yes, you were right; this is good writing. I can't wait to read the next one!" Alen continued reading. Adrian's mother walked outside.   
"So, when are we going on this trip?" Alen looks up from the book.   
"When everyone is ready. I can teleport all of us to the boat, so just give me the word when everyone's ready." He went back to reading. In the distance Charla was flapping her wings carrying her latest kill. It seemed that the pokémon around the area were learning how to evade her, because she only had one nidorina. When she came into better view it seemed she had a fight in order to get it: there were slashes all over the nido's body. She finally landed and flopped the body of her kill next to Alen.   
"Want some before we leave?" Alen shook his head, no. Charla then looked over at Adrian. "I know you want some, but let me cook it for you first!" She ripped a limb and waved it over her tail flame. She then handed Adrian the chunk of beef when it was dark on the outside. Adrian ate and felt the goodness of tender, cooked meat.... 

______________________________________________________________ 


	6. Part 6: The Uneasy Trip...

______________________________________________________________   
Part 6: The Uneasy Trip...

"Are you all packed Adrian?" his mother asked.   
"Yeah, I'm done." His mother walked up to Alen.   
"Well, I think we can go now." Alen stands up and closes the book. He hands it to Adrian.   
"All right. Call everyone out and I'll teleport us to the boat." Adrian walked over to where the pokéballs were and tapped on each of them. The pokémon inside came out a second after. Alen came in and psychically told them what was going on. They all nodded and walked outside. Adrian and his mother got their luggage ready and Alen prepared for the teleport. Within an instant they were all near a dock where a large boat was. It seemed more like a small ship than a large boat. He told them to board it while he took care of some business. Charla stretched her wings and went in search of prey while the others went to the boat. It had 'Giant Minnow' painted on its side. Other than that it was a good looking ship. It had three floors and a deck large enough for everyone to be on. Alen came back and began to retain the anchor. Charla came back with a large lickitung and pidgeot before they set sail.   
"So, where am I going to put the meat?" Charla asked as she carefully removed lickitung's tongue.   
"You can put them in the bottom floor of this boat. It's temperature controlled and water-tight. I don't think we'll need that part of the ship right now." Charla nods and begins hauling the bodies into the lower regions of the ship. Luckily the ship's interior was all steel and wide so she didn't have to be too careful about her tail-flame. Alen was in the control room steering the boat and everyone else was on the deck. Adrian's mother rested on a large, body-length cushion on the deck. Adrian stood leaning against the railing watching the water as they floated on by. Duckman was getting restless.   
"All dis water an' I can't take a dive! geezzz...." Lucy walked up to him and patted his back. "Should I toss you overboard, Ducky?" She laughed as she walked away. Duckman chuckled to himself and continued to stare at the rolling waves. Dasher lay on the deck in the middle of the ship.   
"I hate water...." He shivered at the thought of it. He encompassed himself in his flame and began to calm down. Charla came up from below. She took one look at the water and went back under to her room. Cannon smiled when he saw that happen. He looked up at the sky. There were white, puffy clouds scattered throughout and the sun was hanging behind one. It seemed that everything was timed just right with the nice, cool weather and crisp air. Adrian walked over to another member of the boat that he had not met yet. He noticed Adrian walking his way.   
"Unusual huh? Me being of the ground and I'm here staring at the water. I do not believe we have met, young boy. You may call me Maro." He bowed.   
"Well, I'm Adrian. Nice to meet'cha!"   
"Hm.. You are Tiff's son? Yes, yes you are. Ha, the last time I saw you you had little waving arms and legs and couldn't stand up. It was such a funny sight, you kept trying to keep your balance but you kept falling over." He shook his head. "I've been in that pokéball too long. I've only been out whenever your mother took the pokéballs to the center for these past years. Everything was uninteresting. I didn't like that thing with pictures on that small table... the TV, so I stayed in the ball. I knew the others would come out more often, but it didn't really matter to me. I made a promise to your family long ago and I won't break it." He turned his attention back to the water. "This is what I like watching. The earth itself. These waters are older than all of us, and they will continue to exist long after we're gone. The mountains, the trees, the land, all here before us and will be after us. The spot we're headed to is new compared to everything else. A phenomenon such as this just doesn't occur. I have been there several times before, with Alen, and it continues to change. I wonder what it's like now..." He tapped his bone club on the railing.   
"So, how did you come about making a promise to this family?" Adrian asked, softly.   
"It is a tale that will be told to you when it gets dark. Right now I need to fully take in all this fresh air and shaded sun." Adrian stood for a second then walked over to another. It stared at him when he came close.   
"Tiff's boy! Yes, you, I remember now!" It was the gengar. "Ha! Old guy like me not forget rrrrecent event. You how old?"   
"Um... eleven."   
"Eleven?!" he thundered, "You're a BIG boy! Lots of human years tell me you are big boy. I like this human family, that is why I stay. HAH! I forgot! Me name is Glen! Had ya wonderin' huh?" Adrian looks at the big grin on Glen's face as he laughed at himself. Such a grin with giant teeth was too unnatural. "You like big teeth?!" he said pointing at his own teeth, "Then I give you big teeth!" He started laughing as he went invisible except for his teeth and tried to put his smile on Adrian. He never stuck. When Adrian moved the smile hung in the air. Glen materialized. "It not work!!" He began laughing again. Adrian's mother began to get a little annoyed with all of Glen's shouting and loud laughing.   
"Please, Glen, could you turn the volume down a little?" she said in a sleepy manner. Glen laughed at himself now with a little less volume.   
"I take you to me room inside big iron FISH!" He went through the ship to his room, but then he smacked his head. "PEOPLE CAIN'T DO THAT!!" He came above deck again and grinned. He chuckled as he lead the way across the ship to the stairway to his room. "Me forget sometimes." The room didn't have anything in it, and really why should it. "Sit and you hear story from me!" Adrian sat on the hard floor in front of Glen. "I have existed many more years than I wish to count." His tone was completely different. Adrian thought he heard someone different talking, but it was Glen. "I have always been Glen, but I wasn't always gengar. I have been human and pokémon: animal and plant. And lastly, gengar. As a human, I was a blacksmith that forged some of the finest weapons and armor of the time. As a pokémon, I wasn't the gengar yet, but I was charizard. Charla doesn't know it, but I was one of the elders before she was born. He died the day she hatched. As an animal I was raticate, untamed and completely wild. He lived the longest out of his siblings. As a plant I was an oddish. He would borrow into the ground and sleep during the day. He was an unfortunate victim as pray to larger pokémon. And now I am gengar Glen." His smile came back. "Or goofy Glen!"   
Adrian sat puzzled a second. "So you were other pokémon once...."   
"You are correct, sir," he said with closed eyes. "I could have continued being others but I just didn't want to. I had a choice. But then I always had a choice. I had really started out as gengar, but too many years as one thing made me a little crazy, so I chose to be something else. Ghosts have this ability. For a number of years I was that charizard elder, but I had to fly there as a young charizard first and try to fake aging. I was successful in my attempts, but I lived too long, longer than any other charizard did at the time. So I had to fake death. I decided to die when the next egg would hatch. That egg was Charla. I heard one of the other elders make a prediction after I faked death. He said that Charla was going to give birth to a white flamed child! As you know, this DID happen. That prediction, though, was only told to that elder's youngest son, who was already old enough to be Charla's father. His name was Ashton, but everyone called him Ash. He is the elder Charla knows as the prophet, but really his father was. He was a very smart beast and cool tempered, unlike how most male charizards are, hot as a volcano. Anyway, enough about him, The next thing I became was the human blacksmith. I..."   
"Hold on a sec.... You have now become a human.... What was the year?"   
"Oooo.... toughie... um, maybe it was at least about a good five hundred to a thousand years ago. After I stopped being a charizard I thought about what I was going to do next.... for a few... years. Being the blacksmith was quite fun! Everyone wanted armor and swords and stuff that was tempered by me, the finest metalworker in the whole country of people. Making the stuff was hard-work, but it gave me a real sense of accomplishment..... That is until I figured out where it all went. As humans, you really don't need special abilities, all you have to do is make them. Armory was one of those things, now it's tekno... tehknol..."   
"Technology?"   
"Yes! That word! All the stuff I made went to the killing of other humans. I couldn't stand it after that, so I stopped and vanished from the country. Of course now armory isn't really even needed, you have the tehk.. no .. th..that word to make everything and destroy everything. I was never aware of how fast human lives change. I hate most changes. Too many changes drive me INSANE!" Glen flails his arms around. "But enough of my SANity, as a raticate I was INsanity! I..."   
"Sorry to interrupt, but, well..."   
"He heh he he.... You sat on this strange tale without getting hurt, so you are definitely not one of those people. There is a very thin line between sane and insane. I am on that line, and intend to stand on it as long as I can. I sometimes wish that I could tell which way is which."   
Hmmm, Adrian thought, sanity.... insanity.......?   
"Anyway, it not big deal! I went completely nuts as a raticate. But, in order to be one, I had to find a mother that had had a child that died without her knowing. I can also copy smells, ya know. I stayed with them until they all separated and grew up and had families and stuff. Other than that, I was the fastest thing any of 'em had seen! Hmmph, I wish I could show some of their facial expressions.... WAIT!! I can!" He thinks for a second and begins to change his face into a raticate's face. Trying his hardest he managed to look like a very bewildered raticate. "SEE?! It FUNNY!" Adrian sat and smiled as Glen tried to make another face. "HA! This one is my favorite!" After another face Glen changed back and looked at Adrian with a grin on his face. "You didn't really think that was SOooo funny, did'ya?"   
Adrian looked at the floor, then back to Glen. "Um.... well...." Just as Adrian was about to say another word, Charla knocked on the door.   
"Come get some grub, yo! HAH!" she laughed at herself for saying 'yo.'   
"That's right, PEOPLE need to eat! We will continue this journey through my head some other time then?" Glen asked as if he were talking to a psychiatrist. Adrian got up on almost fully sleeping legs.   
"Yes, I would like to continue our little journey at a later time, but until then, take two and call me in the morning!" Adrian stumbled out as Glen started laughing at what he said. Glen fell on his side hardly controlling his laughter. Adrian opened the door and left for the deck.   
"I can hear Glen laughing hard... What did you say to him?" Adrian's mother asked upon seeing Adrian. She and two others were on deck.   
"Oh, nothing that funny. I'm not too sure what's making him laugh so much. Oh well, laughing's a good thing, right?"   
"Well, not when it's so loud!" she cried, trying to concentrate when the laughing began to die down. "...That's better."   
Cannon was still onboard, as was Maro. The others had gone into their rooms to eat. A large table had some of what looked like ground up beef. "What's to eat?" Adrian asked.   
"Oh, the stuff on the table is actually some meat Alen had teleported into the ship's hold. I guess when he went to take care of some business he got enough food for the journey. Charla simply hunted because she likes the taste of fresh meat rather than this ground beef. It's quite good actually, why don't get a bowl of it before you go to bed." Adrian walked over to the table, grabbed a bowl and put some of the cooked meat into it. There was also rice, lettuce, and stray slices bread. A large cooler provided some cherry flavored drink. Hmmm... where did he get all this stuff? Adrian thought as he set his bowl and cup on one of the tables. The ship was not swaying very much, so the cup never moved. Maro came and sat across from Adrian.   
"Well I see you have healthy appetite," he said looking at Adrian's bowl. It was brimming with the meat and rice, and had four slices a bread on top. Maro chuckled. "It is very natural for you to be so hungry. You are a growing boy, but that doesn't always have to be your waist." Adrian looked at his bowl, then back to Maro and smiled. "Yes, your great-great-grandfather was much like you. He always ate a lot, but he needed to, he was a very hard working man. He did jobs on his own that I have seen others have three or four pokémon do. He worked hard to make a living, though he demonstrated that man can achieve certain goals without needing special abilities. His mother inspired him, whom I made a blood oath to. She did something that I don't think neither I nor Alen could have done or prevented. It was after she had her son that this event happened. She was nearing forty years old and her son was nineteen. Her name was Victoria and her son's was Frederick. Her husband had died while defending their home when it was broken into. There were too many for him to handle, so they ganged up on him and left him to die. They didn't even steal anything. He did what he wanted to do, but he wasn't finished yet. He got to his feet and walked outside his house. He found me sitting by a tree next to his house. I was a different kind of person then. I didn't want anything to do with humans then, but he struck me as...   
....worthy. 

I looked into his unwavering eyes and saw that he was about to breathe his last. He spoke two words then fell to his knees. He tried to breathe, but his lungs were punctured and he coughed blood. He died fighting." Maro paused as he looked at Adrian's bowl. It was empty. Adrian was sitting and listening when he noticed the pause.   
"What were his last words?" Adrian asked softly.   
"They were.... 'Save her.' I knew who he meant, but to just ask me like that.... I was not anyone's possession, but I knew what happened and had been in the city for a while and knew the faces of all the people in that section. I reported the murder to the local police and they thought I was joking. A hypno translated for them. I told the hypno to verify my report by using his psychic powers. He nodded and closed his eyes. Within a minute they opened and he dashed for the door. He knew I was right. Four officers immediately followed him to the scene. I, on the other hand, left without being noticed and snuck back to the scene. She was there. She was on her hands and knees crying and weeping as the officers sealed off the area and called for backup. I was on a roof-top watching this happen. I jumped down and walked up to the scene. The officers and hypno found me and apologized for not believing at first. They found his body where it was when I left it, but he was on his back instead of on his chest. I asked if they had picked him up and they said that they did not. I walked over to his wife when she looked at me. She asked me why I didn't help, but I could not answer her. She then asked what he said to me. She knew he said something before he died, so I told her. The hypno translated. Her facial expression immediately changed. It was about this moment that her son had come. He had been gone for a couple years, and he had returned with a wife. She had Alen and some others, I forget who, but Alen immediately spoke to me with his mind. He quickly told me some things I needed to know as well as the gift of speech. When Victoria saw her son and new daughter-in-law she opened her arms to them and hugged them with happiness. Though they did mourn their loss, they moved on and moved to Fred's home. I came with them. I decided to do what that man said, try to save her. But from what, I did not know until it was too late. The region Fred lived in was unstable at the time. Wars between people erupted without warning and Victoria got caught up in one. She explicitly said to keep Fred and his wife out of it, so they never knew until it happened. She ended a war by herself, but in doing so she destroyed herself. I was there. Her mind was set on one purpose and one only: to stop the war before it would take anymore lives. She knew why her husband died.   
He was secretly a general in the war of the regions. He was trying to end the hate each region had for each other, but he failed and was killed for his efforts. All sides claimed his death as their doing, but none of them really did it. An underground organization actually did it so that the wars would continue. She knew about it even before Alen figured it out. She lead a small band of troops against that underground organization. The troops were each from different parts of each region in the war, and shared no animosity toward each other. They were successful in taking out their target, but only one returned to tell his story. All the others, including Victoria, had died in battle. I could not save her. I failed her husband, but I think he would have forgiven me. The wars did stop after a few more months of fighting and peace treaties were signed to help unify them as one nation under an equal set of representatives. What she did will always be remembered by me, and now I hope you understand that I will defend this family until I die because of it. I made that blood oath on her grave, and that I will not fail her." He stopped and looked at the table with closed eyes. A very faint tear ran down from one eye, but faded away after a second of exposure to air. "I will never let anything happen to you, or your mother or anyone that falls in this blood line." He got up and walked down to his room. Adrian's mind was thinking and remembering everything Maro said. He was about to get up when his mother sat next to him.   
"I heard Maro talk to you. He never mentioned any of this to me when I was little. I believe you are simply the one that must know. Perhaps there is more than just stories that is occurring here. Well, you had better get some sleep." Adrian nodded and left for his room. He stopped by the restroom to brush his teeth and relieve himself. He finished and walked to his room. His suitcase was there in his room and so was a small bed and drawer. He began putting his clothes in the drawer when someone knocked on the door. It was Alen.   
"Come in."   
"Maro talked of his promise, correct?" Alen asked as he walked in.   
"Yes, yes he did. I was going to ask you something about it tomorrow, but you're here now."   
"Well, what was it you were going to ask me? Geezz that felt weird, asking what you're going to ask..."   
"Hmmm... It's about Victoria. He said that neither of you knew until it was too late. Was this true?" Alen thought a minute.   
"Yes, it is true. Maro would not give false information. She had a very resistant mind. It would take me a few minutes to reach into it, but I could not always hear what was going on. She was something else. A human with that much will to see something through, even after her husband died is truly unique. Well, does that answer your question?"   
"Yes, but another thing..... Who was with you during that time?"   
"Hmmm... At the time..." Just as he was about to say something, Ollie walked in. He seemed seasick. Alen looked down at the cat. "Uh, Ollie? Are you alright?" Ollie walked a little farther and began to fall on his side. Adrian instinctively jumped up and caught the cat in a flash.   
"Ollie! Say something!" Ollie looked up at Adrian and spoke.   
"I wisshh.... thhhe boat.... would >urp stooop... swaaaying...." Ollie's tongue lagged out of his mouth. "Sorry.... I maaaay have messshed in da haaaall...." Alen touched a spoon to Ollie's forehead and he began to sleep, purring.   
"He'll be fine when he wakes up. Now let me clean up the mess...." He walked outside the room and saw a small trail coming from the deck. He focused both spoons on the mess and teleported it outside the ship. He also made sure that the surface didn't have any microbial remains. Alen then sensed something, or rather heard something coming from the deck. It was Adrian's mother and Cannon running under.   
"The water's are getting cranky!" she shouted as a clash of thunder was heard booming through the ship. Alen thought for second then teleported himself to the helm.   
"We cannot be there already! Unless, the storm simply kept growing and is now a hurricane." Alen tried turning the ship around, pushing it with his psychic powers. He managed to turn it completely around, but was shook when a wave slammed into the hull of the ship. "Everyone, concentrate on me and maybe we can escape it!" He shouted to everyone, psychically. Everyone heard it, except Adrian. The psychic message never made its presence known to Adrian, so he didn't know what exactly was going on. Adrian's mother quickly asked everyone to get into their pokéballs so that they could be in less danger. Charla and Dasher were the first to enter their pokéballs. Cannon, Duckman, Glen, and the dragonair remained in their rooms, since they have nothing to fear from the water. Maro, was hesitant at first, but entered his since he can't bear water for very long. Lucy entered hers as well. Ollie didn't have a pokéball of his own, so Cannon lended him his. Adrian walked out into the hallway after he pokéballed Ollie and found his mother with a very concerned look on her face.   
"Adrian, take these," she handed Adrian the pokéballs, "and keep them close to you so you don't lose them." She hurried over to another room as Adrian put the balls into a zipper pocket in his shorts.   
The boat shook as another wave hit at full force. Alen was not succeeding. Adrian walked to another room were Duckman was pacing.   
"Da suspense is killin' me!" He looked as if he were in great thought. Adrian asked what he was doing. "I'm'a tryin' ta halp Alen! Ya mean ya neva heard him call?" Adrian shook his head no. "Oh great! Well, pleaze, concentrate on Alen and prey for clear skies..." Adrian sat down in a chair that was in the room and began to concentrate on Alen. Harder and harder he thought..... until the crack of a thunder bolt rocked the boat. It struck the mast and shattered it to shrapnel. Pieces flew in all directions, even through the ship into the lower regions, puncturing the hull as well as flying toward Adrian. The shrapnel stopped an inch in front of Adrian and fell to the floor. Duckman was astounded. "How did you...!!??" But the storage hold was taking in water.   
The ship was sinking.   
"Everyone, above deck to the lifeboats!" Adrian's mother shouted as she headed above deck. The remaining pokémon knew that this element would not harm them, but it could harm Adrian and his mother. Duckman ran out of his room, Adrian following, to the deck. Upon arriving, they could hardly see in front of them. It was solid black except the lightning strikes every second or so. Adrian watched on, almost as if in slow motion, a bolt heading for his mother. He saw it forming above her. He saw it form. He saw the light.   
He was then under it, shielding his mother from the blast. It never touched anyone, except Adrian. He never fully felt the blast.   
The light was so bright.... is this a dream? No, it couldn't be. There's my mom, and Duckman, and Cannon, and the dragonair whose name I don't know. There's the lifeboat we're about to enter. There's some of the shrapnel holes on the deck. That's where the mast used to be. There's the table that was fused to the deck, along with the bench and now dead umbrella. Alen is still in the helm. Wait, is he still in the helm? No, he is here, behind me, about to enter the lifeboat and about to create a small barrier to keep out the water. But how can I be noticing all these things without taking time? I am here, looking around at everything, but where's time?   
Just as Adrian is wondering, time hits him dead on.   
He and his mother are shoved into the lifeboat as the others launch it. Once it is on the water and cut loose from the ship, Alen teleports himself to it and puts up a psychic barrier.   
"There, now we should be safe, at least for a while...." The others dive overboard and hit the water. They immediately guide the boat away from the storm, but the storm seems to begin following them.   
"Alen," Adrian shouts above the noise, "I believe that we should ride into the storm. It is intent on getting us, so lets ride it out." Alen looks up at Adrian from deep thought.   
"Perhaps you are right!" Alen psychically tells the swimmers to guide the boat into the storm. They do as he said and to their astonishment the storm begins to die down. A light can now be seen through the darkness. They were close to an island. The storm almost seemed to have come from that island. "Such an oddity." Alen said as they saw what was on the island. It was being lit by countless lights. There were windmills catching the hurricane winds that once blew. There was a small wooden pier where they would have docked their boat. A figure stood at the end of that pier with folded arms. Its eyes were glowing, somehow it was controlling the boats movements. It could finally be seen as what Adrian had met in a dream. 

Mewtwo.   


______________________________________________________________ 


	7. Part 7: Stable Ground...

______________________________________________________________   
Part 7: Stable Ground...

"Welcome."   
The word was transmitted straight into everyone's head. Adrian even heard it. Alen's eyes grew wide and he started to tremble.   
"You... you are the one who taught me how to stop my aging! I remember now! Adrian, he is a very old, and extremely powerful pokémon! He..." Alen was silenced. He tried to speak through his mind, but he could not penetrate Adrian's mind. The boat continued to float toward the pier. The swimmers, except for the dragonair, were in awe, as they could not move a muscle. Alen's barrier collapsed, and Adrian stood up.   
"Why? Why the storm? We could have been seriously hurt and worse yet we could have died! I know you wanted to meet me, but why like this?" Adrian's mother looked up at her son and gasped: his hair had grown a foot longer! Before Mewtwo could answer, Adrian looked over and saw this himself. It was a few inches above his shoulders before the trip, and now it was down to the middle of his back. "What's going on!?!"   
"All in do time... Please, come into my house so that you may be more comfortable and dry off. Everything will be clear then." The boat dings the pier and is then roped by an unseen force. Adrian steps onto the pier, then assists his mother and Alen. The swimmers are psychically lifted from the water and set on the ground a few feet from the pier. They are given back control of movement. As Mewtwo walks toward a structure in the distance, Alen taps on Adrian's shoulder. He then points to the pokéballs that were inside his pocket. Adrian unzips the pocket and calls out the ones that were inside. They all walk toward the giant structure that stands before them and awe at the strange yet symmetrical architecture. Mewtwo is standing before giant gates. "So you have others? You are welcome here as well." Mewtwo's eyes light up and the doors open to reveal a large room with a large, round table in the middle. Waterfalls filled the corners of the building and a high, winding staircase leads to the top. "Sit at the table and we will begin."   
"Can we trust him?" Charla whispers to Alen. Alen shakes his head no. A psychic message enters Charla's mind from Mewtwo. 'For now you must trust me.' Charla gulped a very frightened gulp. Duckman began to tremble at the psychic presence probing his mind. The place was bigger than it seemed, since it took nearly a minute to walk to the table. Adrian was the first to sit in a chair. His mother sat next, then Duckman, Lucy, Maro, and Glen. Ollie jumped into Adrian's lap. Charla and Cannon were too big for the chairs, but the table was low enough for them to just sit on the floor. The dragonair simply floated in the air above them. Mewtwo sat on what appeared to be a short stool. He released Alen from his psychic bond as he crossed his legs and leaned back on something unseen..   
"Alright, now ask your questions." Mewtwo looked in Adrian's direction; everyone else was as well. Adrian's hair was back to normal. Adrian looked at everyone and then back to Mewtwo.   
"Where did the storm come from?" Mewtwo immediately threw up his hand. A storm cloud formed above his hand and dumped rain and lightning on the ground below. He then lowered his hand and the storm disappeared. All looked surprised, except the dragonair. "Why?" Mewtwo thought a second and spoke, psychically.   
"Because it was the perfect time to get you here. You have the abilities of every pokémon in existence and likely more all inside you. You are beginning to show some of these abilities. The physical and elemental barriers are the first. One day you could be shocked by Lucy and the next you cannot be shocked or burned and now you cannot be cut by shrapnel. You also show the signs of a mental barrier, but it is not strong enough to block me yet. I can also sense a primal urge inside you. You ate raw meat and suddenly went savage for a few stray minutes. Your digestive system is already suited for such consumption. If your power is not tamed then this whole planet will be your feasting ground." All at the table held their breath, except the dragonair. Adrian was stunned, sitting motionless as Ollie jumped up on top of the table. Mewtwo continued. "You also were able to take something from a dream. No pokémon I know of has this ability. Hmm... I will have to retrieve it from your ship." Mewtwo's eyes glowed and the card Adrian took from a dream suddenly appeared in his hand. A few books and some extra clothes were also transported and were in a neat, dry pile on the ground behind him. "You will be here a while, so I took some of your clothes that were still in your ship and cleaned them up. By the way, your ship is now docked at the ship dock on the opposite side of the door you came through. All damage is now repaired." Alen's jaw nearly hit the table!   
"How!? How... how did you...?! Ah, I forget who I'm talking to..." Alen put his hand on his head and closed his eyes.   
"Nothing is impossible, Alen. And yes, I was the one that taught you the secret to stop aging." Adrian was puzzled.   
"Well, if you have existed for so long, than why is it that some of the reports I had to read in school had you created only a few decades ago? It was a very terrible thing that-"   
"It was a very terrible thing those idiots tried to do! They never created me!" His hands were on the table, and he was filled with anger. Before continuing he sat back down and looked like he did before the question was asked. "I was created before any humans you have ever read about. They tried to enslave me, that was what they tried to do! I simply retaliated. Those humans had power, yes, enough to capture me, since I didn't want to harm them! I was curious, I did not know the human's language, so I let them take me. When their purpose was clear, I destroyed them. They were all lies, though I learned how to speak your language from a human female that wanted to make my trip as painless as possible. She was one of your pokémon nurses, a Nurse Tiki; she was the nicest one and had no foul intent whatsoever. I wish they could have been like her, and not so full of deceit....."   
".....It disgusts me."   
Adrian looked down at Ollie, who was now in a small ball of fur, sleeping. Mewtwo noticed this as well. "Hmm... I suppose all of you did have a rough ride. You should get some sleep in the rooms that are now prepared for you. Each room is tailored to fit your needs, and there will be food when you awake tomorrow." Mewtwo's eyes glowed again, and a door opened to the left. Adrian picked up Ollie and was about to leave when Mewtwo said something to him. "I would like to talk to this stray meowth for a while. Alen, Glen, we need to talk as well." Adrian was puzzled as to why Mewtwo asked for Ollie, but he didn't argue. He placed Ollie back on the table and left for his room after picking up his clothes. Upon reaching the hallway of the rooms, he noticed something kind of odd: there weren't any doors where the openings were. There were also names placed at the foot of each opening. Charla and Dasher in one, Cannon and Duckman in another. Black and Maro in one, and Lucy and Adrian's mother Tiff in another. Adrian had one with Ollie. Adrian thought a second as he walked to his room. "Black? Who is-"   
"That would be me," the dragonair said with a very old and deep voice that seemed to resonate. "I will tell you why I am named so after a few more days..." Adrian was a little puzzled: it was the first time he had ever heard the dragonair speak. He continued to float his way to his room, as the rest walked. They all entered their rooms and were delighted with what was in them.   
In Charla and Dasher's room, the sight was that of medieval masonry and a small lava pool. "I haven't taken a lava bath in ages!" Charla shouted upon seeing it. Dasher was getting situated on a stack of soft fire proof wool as Charla slid into the pool of lava. "Aahhhh...... nothin' like it..." A big grin was now on her face as she closed her eyes and swished the lava between her toes. Dasher was fast asleep when Charla finally fell asleep while floating on top of the lava.   
Duckman went nuts when he saw the discoball in the middle of his half of the room. Cannon was not very pleased, until he saw a button to set up a sound proof barrier in the middle. On Cannon's side, there was nothing but a simple shallow pool of water with a couple lily pads in it. The entire side was white and blue. On Duckman's side, there was everything but a pool of water with lily pads! Duckman immediately jumped onto the various sorts of physical and DJ equipment and started fumbling through the various music selections already there and..... Cannon happily pressed the button for the barrier and enjoyed his little pool.   
Maro and the dragonair Black saw the two sides of the room and smirked. Their room was more different than anyone else's. One side had some light while the other had none and was pitch black. The lighter side had a small, stone cot and looked like the dungeon of a castle. The dark side had what could have been a large pole with many rods poking out, but was so dark that it couldn't really be seen as anything. Maro walked toward the cot while Black flew toward the darkness.   
Lucy's face lit up when she saw their room. It was the woman's dream! A large dresser with five-way mirrors and drawers stuffed with various products for Adrian's mother and Lucy to use and use up. Two large beds filled the other half. Both beds had all sorts of little cute, stuffed pokémon toys, as well as satin throw pillows and queen-size contouring pillows! A small doorway led to a bathroom with a spa and a large sink with plenty of towels. "You know what this means!" Adrian's mother shouted as she dropped the clothes she took back from Mewtwo. They both ran for the various products in the drawers.   
"MAKEOVERS!!!"   
Upon entering his room, Adrian turned on a light switch. A bed was situated in one corner and a strangely lit ball was on a table in front of it. Adrian touched the ball, but nothing happened. He then sat on the bed, which could be felt as an air-bed. He looked to his left and saw a bathroom with a faucet and shower. Since he had the clothes with him, he figured he may as well take a soothing hot bath.   
One by one, each went to sleep, and the doors that were supposed to be there appeared and shut them in. Alen and Glen do not sleep, but Ollie already had a lot while on board the ship, so they were all up discussing things with Mewtwo. Alen is given back his memories from the time he met Mewtwo. They learn of Mew and of how she has been gone for sometime. They are taught the importance of Adrian, and of how he could be the planet's destroyer. Glen begins to frown.   
"I laugh with BIG boy and he might cause Earth's dest-rrr-ruction? Why would he do dat? It not make sense."   
"Yes. He can and he will, if I do not prevent it. But, I fear that I will not be enough." Mewtwo looks away for a moment. "This is not the first time this sort of thing occured. It has happened before, but I was very young, only a few hundred. It has been so long.... Humans have existed longer than you think. I WAS born a pokémon, but this one was not. His code-name was Ryu. He was created by humans all those millennia ago. You see, human evolution is much like a sine wave. There are peaks and there are troughs, but some peaks are very high. At this point in time, humans had reached their highest peak. So advanced was their technology that they tried to create a pokémon out of nothing but raw DNA, completely from scratch. They succeeded when Ryu was born, but they had no idea what they just unleashed upon the world. They programmed him to obey humans, but he was flawed, so instead he began to destroy everything. The mew of the time summoned all their powers and finally destroyed Ryu before he destroyed the planet. I was there, with my mother, sending power to aid in his destruction. It was much like a nuclear explosion, but of pure energy and not earth destructive. Most of the mew that sent their power died soon after Ryu was destroyed. They sent to the point of losing touch with life. I survived it, but my mother did not. Since I was a young mew, I had to help in disposing of the dead. It is customary for the young to bury the dead of the mew. We put the shells of bodies in the mantle of the earth, not the crust. Since we come from the earth, we must be given back to the earth. It was during this time that I under went a strange transformation that made me who I am. It was in the mantle when I changed, but no one else did."   
Alen looks at Glen, who then look at Ollie. They are speechless. Glen thinks of something and his big grin returns.   
"So who was the mew that left ya, huh?" Mewtwo turns and looks at Glen. He almost smiled.   
"She was sent to help me through the human's brainwashing those decades ago. She said she had some kind of business she needed to take care of before she left, but I have not been in contact with her for quite some time. Mew are the only pokémon I cannot read the minds of, so she could be anywhere as anything, but only female. She is a newborn compared to me, though, so she may just be playing a trick of time." Ollie begins curling himself into a ball, and somehow captures everyone's attention. "It is late for the little one here; do you wish to be taken to your room?" Ollie nods. "Well then, I wish you pleasant dreams." Ollie is then teleported to Adrian's room. A downy pillow on an antique type chair was created for Ollie to sleep on. Alen begins to talk.   
"What was this card you spoke of that Adrian took from a dream?" Glen now wondered the same thing. Mewtwo reproduced it in his hand and presented it to Alen.   
"This card has a special type of function. That is all I know so far. The patterns on it give indication of human bar-coding or television broadcast static. I can only guess as to its meaning." Alen begins to ponder.   
"What if it does not really have a meaning by itself... What if it is not a complete picture!"   
"But picture of what? Pretty girl? Big smile? Planet? Dream? It too vague. Me need more picture to make big picture." Mewtwo looks at the card's other side and shows it to the other two.   
"But how do you explain this?" The side IS covered with non-intelligible static. Alen and Glen are both puzzled.   
"Perhaps other side is key to fixing static." Glen finally says. Mewtwo smiles.   
"That is about as much as I could come up with when I first saw it." They begin discussing other things as the moon slowly sets and the sun begins to rise.   
All begin to awaken and the doors are opened. One by one they leave their rooms and walk to the table where the others had been talking. Duckman falls over laughing when he sees Lucy's new look.   
"It too much for me! HAH HAH HAH!!! Someone -HAH heh- please! I've -HAH- fallen over HAHAH-ing an' I can't -heh- ge-heh-et UP-PPbb-PHAH HAH!!" Lucy was infuriated! She walked over and promptly thunderbolted the duck. He stopped laughing after that. "...dat hurt...."   
"I see all of you had a good night's rest. Now, it is time for you to eat." Mewtwo produced a lavish breakfast on the table at the wave of his hand. Each plate was specially selected for everyone. Charla had the juiciest chunk of meat she had ever eaten. Lucy, Cannon, Maro, and Dasher had some of the ripest fruit any of them had ever tasted. Duckman did not know what was on his plate, but it tasted better than anything he had ever fished up. Alen and Black had a glass of something, what it was could not be distinguished. Ollie had some fish-meat that made him purr loudly as he ate. Adrian and his mother had a large omelet with toast, milk and orange juice. Glen is a ghost, and like Mewtwo, does not need to eat.   
Mewtwo watches Adrian closely. He notices that Adrian's eyes flash a red color for a fraction of a second as he was eating. He almost flinches, but decides not to. He also noticed that Adrian's mental barrier was growing stronger, as it was harder to enter his mind, but not yet impossible. He extracts more information, but still not enough. He knew exactly how the others were in nature, but he could not fully access all of Adrian's mind. He then looks at the others. They are still enjoying their food. His mind taking any extra information that he may have overlooked. He then compiles the extra data into a mental database. Adrian's eyes flash again. Mewtwo then notices something else; Adrian's mental barrier has suddenly shut him out! He tries his hardest, but is unable to penetrate his mind.   
"So, what are we going to do today?" Adrian asked, looking up at Mewtwo. He looks a little bewildered, but answers, physically.   
"I am going to help you better your powers. In order to do this, I will need everyone's cooperation." The others at the table shrugged. 'Okay, why are you asking, we know that you can control us whether we like or not,' he heard Charla say to herself in her mind. She was right, he did not have to ask. "You will begin with a simple telepathic message. Concentrate on Alen and try to speak using your mind." Adrian concentrated as the others were finishing their food. Adrian's eyes flashed a light blue this time. Alen started to hear something.   
"That's it Adrian! Keep trying and your message will be clearer," Alen encouraged. After a few more seconds, Alen heard a message in his mind. 'Hello? Can you hear me?' Alen's eyes light up with happiness! "Yes! Yes I can hear you Adrian! Good job." Mewtwo also felt Adrian's message finally becoming strong enough to be heard telepathically. The others' eyes grew big as Adrian said something to each of them as he smiled. They were equally as impressed.   
"Now, you will continue by trying to lift your plate with your mind. Go on, try it." Adrian looked at his plate and concentrated. His eyes flashed green this time. The plate began to wobble, and then finally it was lifted off the table. Everyone clapped, that is except for Mewtwo. After Adrian placed the plate down, he felt a little dizzy. Mewtwo sensed this dizziness but nothing farther. "Take a break, Adrian. You have used parts of your mind that have not been stretched before, so do not over work it. You shall continue in two hours, so walk around and look at the different things this island has to clear your mind." Adrian nods, then smiles as he gets up and walks to his room. Ollie followed. Charla started to flap her wings to fly when she remembered something.   
"Are there any forests with prey on this island?" she asked.   
"...Yes, there are. Exit by using the sky light." Mewtwo quickly created a forest. He then transported some pokémon from Charla's old hunting ground to that location. Cannon walked to his room, as did Black.   
"Are there any other people here on this island besides us? I'm just wondering," Adrian's mother asked.   
"No, you are my only guests besides Charla's prey. I can, if you want, bring someone else here...." Mewtwo answered. Adrian's mother shook her head.   
"Naw, that's fine. Oh, is there any way a TV could be placed next to my bed? I just love morning soaps!" His eyes rolled. 'Humans and their 'conveniences,' he thought. One was created and placed on a table next to her bed. "Thank you!" She then walked to her room with Lucy. Duckman finally got over how good what-was-on-his-plate tasted, and went to his room to jam. Adrian came out of his room, followed by Ollie. They walked to the nearest door to the outside and it opened as they approached. He walked outside and was in awe as to how different it looked from the first time he saw it last night. He began to walk until he could not be seen through the thick forest. Maro began tapping his bone club on the plate. He thought a minute and decided to go outside also. Dasher walked to his room to try out the lava bath. Alen and Glen are left with Mewtwo.   
"So, I noticed you talked physically, why didn't you just-" Alen was cut off.   
"His mental barrier has become stronger than anything I have ever encountered. That is why." Glen looked at Alen and grinned a big grin.   
"Why you choose him for expa.. AH!.... ex-pear-a-min-tay-shawn?" He laughed when he finished saying that word.   
"I wanted to make sure that he would not try something. I saw his eyes flash when he began to concentrate. Since I cannot look into his mind anymore, I needed some insurance. I can sense his mental strength, but not when it is me that he is concentrating on. You see, last night, he was there, listening to us." Alen's eyes grew wide.   
"How?! He was asleep! He must have.... No... Wait I... No.... Hmmm... Yes. He was there. It is the mark of a true psychic to be able to do this sort of thing while asleep. But how come you didn't sense it? Or did you, but kept it from us."   
"Actually, I never did sense it; I grabbed it before Adrian's mind shut itself from me. It also appears that he has found another square card. He does not know about this one, though that may have changed since then." Mewtwo tried to transport it from Adrian's room, but he could not grab it with his mind. "It seems that I cannot teleport it. It must be a card that holds properties beyond physical. Or, perhaps the cards are somehow a pure element. The first card could be moved psychically, but this cannot. So maybe the first was a 'psychic' card and this second is a 'ghost' card." Alen and Glen thought this over a minute.   
"Then dat mean you or Alen cain't touch it, but ME can?! Well, let's try dis!" Glen runs over to Adrian's room and looks around. "Me no see!" Mewtwo then shows a bright light where the card should be. The card was transparent and very hard to see. Glen picked it up and rushed back. "HERE FUNNY CARD!!" Alen tries to touch it, but his finger moves right through it. He gasps and takes a step back. Mewtwo concentrates for a second, glows, then tries to touch it. He succeeds, and takes it from Glen's hand. "How you do dat?"   
"I have used the art of conversion. I have, in a fashion, become a ghost like you Glen." Just then the card slides through Mewtwo hand and begins sliding through the floor. Glen quickly reaches down and picks it back up. "Hmmm.... It has been ages since I last used that technique. Perhaps this card can tell if I am a real ghost or not."   
"Conversion? I have never heard of this sort of ability. What is it exactly?" Mewtwo looks in Alen's direction.   
"Conversion is the ability to change your type. It was first created by humans when they made porygon, a virtual pokémon that was made to diagnose computer problems as well as to test certain environments. It is not a real pokémon, so the humans that made it did not care what happened to it. When the humans had me in there lab, they had a porygon on stand-by, since it has the conversion ability and can become immune to certain attacks. They never needed it, since I did not give them a chance to use it. I probed its mind and found this knowledge, as well as instructions for different emulated attacks. Other than that it did not have free thought; it was just a mindless puppet."   
"Wow, a man-made pokémon that is mindless... It seems that those scientists did not make the mistake of making a real one this time."   
"Yes, but they have tried, with failure as a result." Glen is staring at the two. He gets a little frustrated and starts waving his arms around.   
"WHAT TO DO WITH CARD?!? It have weird markings like other."   
"Keep it with you. It seems that it can sink through the ground since it is like a ghost." Glen thinks of something smart to say, and smiles with big teeth.   
"How it stay in one spot when I go get it? It was not moving when me there, so why should I not put it back? I HAVE NO POCKETS!!!" Mewtwo thinks on this a second.   
"A point well taken; this is a very odd thing. Try to put it back in the exact spot it was before you took it." Glen waddles off back to Adrian's room and proceeds to find the exact spot. He places the card on that spot.... and it stays!   
"WILD!!!" Glen walks back and tells the other two about the 'wildness'.   
"Hmmm.... I wonder what powers these cards possess when they are all found?"   
"We can only wait."   


  


______________________________________________________________ 


	8. Part 8: The Dark King...

______________________________________________________________  
Part 8: The Dark King...  
  
Black exits his room and floats over to the table where Mewtwo, Alen, and Glen are. "So, you also know about them?" Alen looks a little surprised; it was the first time he had heard him speak.  
"I always thought you were mute... oh well. Yes, we do know about the card." Alen felt a little uneasy. He sensed a very odd and old presence now that the dragonair spoke. Mewtwo stepped forward in Black's direction.  
"You, your name is Black and you are older even than me. I thought dragonair had a maximum age of about ten-thousand years, but you are much older." Mewtwo then kneels on one hand and one knee and bows. "You have my respect for attaining such age naturally. I did not kneel earlier because I do not like doing such honors in front of unsuspecting guests." He stood back up. "So, will you share your vast knowledge with them, or-"  
"Yes, I am waiting for the right time. I must speak with Adrian outside. I must show him the past as I have seen it," the deep, resonate voice interrupted; the voice of Black.  
"What is it that-"  
"This matter cannot be discussed with you, Alen, nor you, Glen. I will take my leave now, and see Adrian. I thank you, Mewtwo, for the honorific. It is not everyday that anyone meets one such as I, even if I have been with part of this family line since it first began. The earth is giving Adrian protection by having all of us magical creatures get caught in the net that is his family's line of blood since its conception. I am afraid that Adrian is the last of this pedigree, and then it will be over." Black begins to float up through the skylight and out to the forest. Alen was shivering.  
"The chill of evil is around him. Why is it that I could not sense it before?"  
"Because he did not let you." Mewtwo answered. "It is said that a pokémon's mental powers grow with age. His age surpasses mine by at least one-hundred times. He may not have come from this world, since nothing could have existed here that long ago." Glen begins to grin with an idea.  
"It look like you not only one who is interested in Adrian's well being. Could it be that Black will start something that will trigger something and make something make Adrian do something.... weird?!?" Glen questioned almost jokingly.  
"An interesting thought," Mewtwo answered, thinking on it. Alen was still confused.  
  
*****  
  
"Aahhhh... nothing like fresh meat!" Charla had finally captured her prey and began feasting. Black began to come into view. Charla glanced up and saw him floating toward her. She quickly flamed the blood off her body and knelt on one hand and one knee as he floated in front of her. "Lord Black! It is good to see that you are moving again," she said in a very 'lady'-like manner. The dragonair stopped in front of her.  
"Carry on with your meal... I see that it took you long enough to capture it." He started to float above the trees.  
"Lord, have a safe trip," Charla said up to the dragonair. He nodded and continued his flight to Adrian.  
  
Alen's eyes grew wide. "I just heard Charla calling the dragonair 'Lord' Black! Why did she call him that?" Alen's mind could 'hear' beyond any normal hearing, and actually heard Charla yell 'Lord Black.' Mewtwo almost looked surprised, but didn't.  
"What do you expect? But, of course, you do not know the stories." Alen knew that as true; he had never heard of any dragonair named Black.  
"But she never called him that whenever he would come out of his pokéball to get a check up."  
"That is because he asked her not to in front of the others. He asked the others that knew of him to also not mention it. There are many myths about his life that are told by different elder pokémon. The charizard's version is different than the blastoise' and so on. When I first probed their minds, I found that each of them that knew these stories were worried about that dragonair. He is the subject of the stories, but they cannot ask him about them, because he is extremely old and is considered an elder to all pokémon. But he let me probe part of his mind. Those stories are true. All the different versions are just different times in his life."  
"So what are these stories, I've never heard them." Mewtwo psychically sends all the stories into Alen's mind. Alen begins to concentrate, going through the new memories as if he lived them. "....I feel weak..... So many different things.... How could he have lived a life like this? It just doesn't seem possible..."  
  
*****  
  
Adrian and Ollie are sitting and staring out at the sea from a small shore line. The waters were very calm. "This is such a strange place, isn't it Ollie?"  
"Yup. So many things happened. I just wish we were home."  
"I do too, but I suppose this place will just have to be it for right now." Black is slowly floating his way toward Adrian. He could be seen if Adrian turned around and looked up a little. Adrian, instead, looked at the sand. Ollie was clawing at the sand, making shallow pits that filled in a second later. Adrian grabbed some sand into his hand and let it run through his fingers. "It's just like water, only not wet."   
Black stops and hovers behind some trees. He wants to know what Adrian will do next.  
Ollie began gathering some sand into a pile. It never got taller than up to his chin. Adrian decided to add to Ollie's pile, making it slowly rise above the cat. He then leaned against it. "Seems pretty strong," Adrian said as he used it like a recliner. He palmed some more sand. 'I wonder,' he thought. He slowly concentrated on the sand trying to make it levitate about his hand, but nothing was happening. Black could sense Adrian's psychic strength reaching toward the sand, but it wasn't very strong.   
'Just a little further, Adrian. Just a little further...,' Black silently encouraged.  
By the time Adrian's head started to turn red, the sand jumped from his hand. "Woh!" The sand landed on the ground silently. Small waves began to splash playfully on the shore.   
"I saw it," Ollie stated, "I saw the sand jump!"  
"I think I'm going about this the wrong way. I concentrated on the sand really hard, but it only gave me a small response. It was easier when I used telepathy to talk to everyone, or when I lifted the plate. Why is this so much harder?"   
'That's it Adrian: question it.' Black continued to wait.  
"Well, the plate was one thing, right? That would mean that each grain of sand in my hand was lifted on its own. That's it! I need to be able to move them as a group, like one thing, like the plate. What do you think Ollie?" The cat walks out in front of him.  
"It sounds okay, but do you think you can do that yet?" Adrian nods.  
"I can try..." He scoops up some more sand and begins to concentrate on the sand. His eyes flash green, and the pile in his hand begins to rise. He moves his hand away and leaves the sand clump suspended in mid-air.   
"Ooooo. You did it! But can you shape it?" Ollie's tail raised and started to wave with happiness.  
"I wonder if I can." Adrian closed his eyes and envisioned the clump as a cube. When he opened his eyes, the clump was a small, compact cube. In his excitement, he lost his concentration and the clump fell and dispersed. "Hmmm..." He scooped up some more sand. He concentrated. The sand levitated up and started to move. The shape began to change into an ameba-like blob. '...yes!' He held his hand out and tried to control the blob of sand's direction of movement. At first the blob hovered in one spot and continuously changed its shape like a lava lamp, but Adrian's eyes flashed red and his aggresion started to kick in. He swatted the blob from the air. Ollie jumped behind the big pile of sand, cowaring. Adrian stood up and held out his hand toward the big pile of sand. He clenched his fist then thrust it up. The pile rose with as much force. He turned and faced the sea with the pile hovering above the water. He then began to reshape it. A perfect ball was formed. It then started to stretch until it was the thickness of a single grain of sand. His eyes flashed red again. The sand began to take on a shape that was a very complex pattern of ridges and valleys that seemed to repeat themselves at any point. Ollie is left in awe. Black's eyes widen.  
'Yes, you have done it Adrian!' He begins to float toward Adrian again.  
Adrian begins to smile. He then forms a large ring with the sand. Ollie walks forward and tries to bat at the sand in the usual cat manner of curiosity. Adrian begins to laugh a little as Ollie reaches for the ring to try to grab it. Ollie jumps and grabs on. The sand ring seems to hold him up. Adrian then moves the ring to be above the ground instead of the water. Ollie lets go. Black stops behind Adrian and circles to face him.  
"You are learning how to manipulate the sand very well."  
Adrian drops the sand and looks up at Black. He was surprised to see him, and could now feel what Alen felt. Ollie ran and hid behind Adrian.  
"Do not be so frightened Oliver, I pose no threat to you nor Adrian. I am here to tell you the passed history of humanity and the magical creatures you call pokémon. Will you allow me to tell you the past?" Adrian looks at him, trying to look into his eyes, but cannot find them in the dark pools for eyes the dragonair had.  
"Yes, you may tell me," he said slowly. Black's voice rumbles.  
"Thank you, Adrian. You will never forget what it is you will hear from me...."  
  
  
*****  
  
"It is possible, because some of that I know to be true." Mewtwo reassuring Alen that the stories must be true. "I remember when some of these events happen. Others happened before my time, but I place no doubt in them."  
"These stories are unreal! How could one pokémon have seen and done all those things and still be alive and moving?! It just doesn't seem right." Glen begins to smile.  
"Because he not really pokymon. Dat must be only reason, eh?" Mewtwo almost agrees.  
"He is pokémon, but just not the same kind of pokémon that exists today. He must be from a time when pokémon were new, since he called them 'magical creatures.' Somehow, I know why he is what he is." Alen and Glen are puzzled.  
"When pokémon were new?" they both asked. Mewtwo nods.  
"Humans have existed longer then I once thought now, because Black was there." Glen looks a little frightened.  
"You don't mean that... that..."  
"Yes."  
  
*****  
  
Adrian sits and listens as Black speaks. Ollie is also interested in what he has to say. Black's voice has such a deep pitch that the sands rattle lightly as he talks. He spoke of times when the earth was newly formed, of how the first things lived and died. He was not actually there, it was history he was told when he was young. He then talks of how humans first came.  
"Humans are an interesting animal to talk about. They don't have any major abilities besides their brains and how they use them. A really weak species of animals yet they can do things no animal can." Adrian is astonished so far. He continues to listen as Ollie is slowly giving in to his usual catnap at about this time of the day. "One could say that humans were just jealous of how all the other animals had special abilities and of how they only lived a life of 'eat, sleep, live.' Humans cannot just 'eat, sleep, live,' no, they must invent. Because they invent, the fires of a new future arose." Ollie begins to roll himself into a little ball in Adrian's lap. "Man set out to change his environment. He cannot live like the other animals, so he invented a new way of living. He invented a heat source by accident. He was mashing some nuts on a rock when he caused a spark to fly from the rock to some nearby twigs and they caught fire. He used this fire to heat himself during the long cold winters and to cook his food, since cold meat is very hard to eat. He invented tools that would make cutting open an animal very easy. He used these tool to cut trees and invented shelter where there was none. As time passed, they continued to invent. Shovels, axes, clubs, spears, bows and arrows, until they figured that some materials could be melted and then shaped. They made copper and iron based weapons, as well as copper and iron based sheeting for shelter and physical protection. No animal was a match for the human, except for himself. Wars broke out for territory and females, just like how the animals brawl for the same. After much bloodshed, the leaders of these fighting nations agreed that fighting would not solve their problems. One nation was created when the daughters and sons of one were wed to the sons and daughters of the other." Ollie is fully asleep and purring softly. "You, Adrian, are a true descendant from that uneasy truce." Adrian's eyes suddenly widen.  
"How? How could I be a descendant of them?" Black's voice continues.  
"Each of the couples had many sons and daughters, but all were separated at birth except two. The other children never knew who their family was. This was intentional, so that the nation would not get separated by jealosy in the family. Each of the couples had done this, and many children, dozens, were given to other families."  
"Dozens?"  
"Yes, there were initially sixteen couples."  
"How could the two leaders have so many children?"  
"They did because times were different. Having more children meant your family would last through the ages. That was what they intended, but something very strange was taking place. The couples had the same number of boys as girls, and somehow they found each other." Adrian looks a little disgusted.  
"Incest?"  
"If that is the word for it, yes. Brothers unwittingly married sisters. But, as I said, times were different. Back then, inbreeding did not cause the babe to be deformed. The new couples would then have more children, but the same number of boys and girls. This continued for generations, but stopped when the current generation had exactly six-hundred and sixteen. All the couples had the exact same number of children, and would continue to have either one or two children each generation. Soon the families unwittingly moved to different parts of the world. The one nation that had existed was now broken into small parts, each looked after by different people. Your ancestors never knew that they were actually related, until Man invented a machine that could make a sort of genetic finger print out of a piece of skin. This can reunite long separated families as well as track crime. It was mandatory in this new age that everyone be identified. When everyone was done, the machine compiled the data into a world database and began sending letters and faxes and electronic mail to families who were separated, as well as arrest warrants and fines for those who committed crimes. When your ancestors finally gathered, they noticed something strange about each other." Black looks to the sky; it was after noon. Adrian is anxious for Black to continue. Black senses this and continues. "Each man looked the same. Each woman looked the same. When they introduced their children, the children also shared this strange aspect. Every other couple had come from a different part of the world, yet everyone was the same. After the gathering, they each left to their part of the world and continued their lives as if nothing happened. This continued all throughout history, they simply continued their lives, unwittingly crossing paths when the time comes to continue the family line. They finally get back together and lived in an underground city. The regions they had lived in were fighting, so they escaped it all together. Human society declined after much time. Nearly all the machines they had built had been destroyed by a sudden global disaster. Two large nations were at war when they sent atomic devices at each other. The blasts from such explosions was so great that all the animals and plant life had been destroyed. Only your ancestry survived. They survived by living in an underground city and relying on underground farms that used sun-lamps powered from the many boiling lakes and aquefers underground. They were watching their televisions when everything blanked out. All communication was dead. They were frightened of what could have happened, so they continued to live underground for several more generations. When they finally went to the surface, everything was gone. Some were sent to try and find machines. They found heaps of machines that still worked and started by rebuilding plant-life. There were machines that were used to cultivate the earth for farming. They used those machines to plant the seeds of trees and to also grow food. They found machines that had the genetic make up of many different kinds of animals. Since none of the animals lived through the blast, they used the machine to create new ones, but they would change them some. They wanted to be able to contain them in small orbs so that they could preserve life if something like this were to ever happen again. They called them 'Pocket Monsters,' or Pokémon." Adrian's eyes widen.  
"You mean pokémon were made by humans?!" Then Adrian thinks a little more. They were made by my ancestors?  
"Yes, pokémon were invented to repopulate the earth with animals. They created thousands of different kinds, but some died out as others evolved. Well, they thought they did the world some good. They planted the plants to clear up the atmosphere. They made the animals to inhabit the earth. The only thing that there was not a whole lot of was humans. They had a remedy for that too. They were able to salvage one of the machines the held the genetic data of the people, but they didn't want to recreate the existing humanity. Plus, they needed to make machines to nurture the infants once they were born, since humans cannot take care of themselves when they are newborn. The animals were not a problem, but rebuilding humanity would be. After many generations, the machines were ready to take and accelerate the growth of humanity. They tried to suppress the urges that make humans violent. They did some other alterations to them, those of which you can see on your television. There were initially more pokémon than humans, so your ancestry invented the capture orb, or your typical pokéball of today. And so, this gave the new humans something to do so that the pokémon would never die out. The new humans formed new societies, and large nations after many generations. Your ancestors finally went out and lived in the different places that humans of the time had inhabited. They had split into two groups and went around. These societies seemed like they had always existed, yet they didn't. Humanity would continue to exist, but would always have a decline followed by a rise. What Mewtwo said about humanity resembling a sine wave is true, but a sine wave is the same forever. Humanity continues to change." Black looks up to check the time. The sun is on it's way to the horizon. Adrian leans back on his hands.  
"So I am the last real human?" Black shakes his head.  
"There are six left. Your great-grandmother, your mother, and you and another three. They are the opposite. A great-grandfather, a father, and his daughter. In fact, the daughter is the same age you are, and is hearing the same story you are." Adrian is puzzled.  
"You mean, there's another dragonair like yourself talking to another kid like me, only it's a girl?" Black nods.  
  
*****  
  
Alen looks at Glen, who looks back at Alen. Mewtwo is not surprised at their conclusion.   
"Humans started all of this." Glen begins to smile.  
"HA HAH! So all of us WERE created. Eh, it not big deal." Mewtwo almost looks furious at Glen's last comment, but doesn't.   
Maro walks in from one the doors. He seems shaken as he approaches the three. Charla also returns, but through the skylight. Something had also shaken her.  
"Something's messing with my head.... I can't think straight..." Maro began saying between breaths as he stumbles forward. 'Seems he ate some of the fruit,' Mewtwo thought. Upon mental probing, Maro had gotten sick from eating a particular fruit from a certain tree.  
"Are you alright, Maro?" Charla asked as she landed. Maro looked at her and leaned on his bone club.  
"Stomach feels like... fire," he finally said, "It looked soooo gooood when I saw it...."  
"Are you prepared, Maro?" Mewtwo asked sharply. Maro nodded; he knew in the back of his mind what Mewtwo was going to do. Mewtwo's eyes glowed as he teleported the contents of Maro's stomach to a sealed container in a closed off room. "There, you should feel fine within a day. It is a good thing you got yourself here so quickly. Another few minutes and you would have lost sanity from the pain." Maro fell over on his back.  
"I can't believe I ate it."  
"Actually, some of the fruits and trees here do not exist outside this island anymore. The fruit you ate gives off a strong scent to attract its victims. The seed only takes root in the victim's dead carcass not long after ingestion."  
"That's more then I needed know..." Maro weezed as he grabbed his belly and curled into a ball.  
  
*****  
  
"In fact, it is almost time for you to meet them and your great-grandmother," Black's voice rumbled. Ollie woke up. Adrian picked Ollie off his lap and stood up.  
"Here?"  
"No, in another place in two days. By then you will be able to travel there." Adrian looked confused.  
"I'll be able to travel there? You mean... alone..?" Black nodded.  
"The sun has finally set. We should get back to his house and rest." Black floated up and then straight to Mewtwo's castle. 'House,' Adrian thought, 'only a house?'  
"Let's go back," Ollie said softly. Adrian began to walk back through the now dark forest. He concentrated on a light source of some kind. He envisioned a something like a light bulb. His eyes flashed white and a soft source of light came into existance in front of him. As he walked, the light source followed like a balloon tied to string. "I didn't think it would get so dark...."  
"Don't worry, kitty," Adrian said as he picked him up in his arms. The sound of footsteps was heard in the distance. Must be some of Charla's prey, Adrian thought. Ollie began to shiver. "Ollie," Adrian whispered, "stay quiet. I'm going to stop the radience." The ball of light began to wither until it shined no light. Adrian concentrated. His eyes flashed a purple-ish color. He began to float above the ground towards the castle without making any sound. More footsteps could be heard in the distance. Adrian continued moving forward. His mind wondering what it is exactly is moving. His question was about to be answered.   
"....master.....," a hoarse voice whispered. Adrian almost jumped. It came from in front of him. "....lord.....," it whispered again. Adrian regained his wits.  
"Y-you mean me?" he asked quietly. The creature in front of him moved closer, but was still too dark to see what it was.  
"....you are not what you are told....." Ollie shivers. "....he is not what you think, either.....," the creature said as a long, shadowy claw could be seen pointing at Ollie.  
"Who or what are you?" Adrian asked the creature. The creature came closer.  
"....I do not think I can answer that question easily. You will remember who I am soon....." The creature seemed to have vanished. No footsteps could be heard. Adrian thought some on it, but decided not to think too hard. He continued on his walk, recreating a light source.  
"Am I not what you think?" Ollie asked, lightly, almost jokingly. Adrian looked at his meowth and smiled.  
"Well, aside from the fact that your fur isn't beige, you're just a normal, sleepy kitty, and I'm glad." Adrian stroked the cat's fur. Ollie began to purr softly. 'His house' could now be seen as Adrian left the forested area. It's windmills were spinning slowly. Light could be seen shining through the doorways, cutting the darkness. As they got closer, Adrian let go of his light source, and walked in.   
______________________________________________________________ 


	9. Part 9: Discoveries...

______________________________________________________________  
Part 9: Discovery...  
  
"Yes, that is as much as I have told him." Black answered.  
"Hmm... I suppose that will do for the time being. You did not mention anything about me?" Mewtwo asked.  
"No, I did not plan to talk about you to Adrian until after he-" Black was cut off as the creaking of a door was heard in the distance. Adrian slowly walked in while petting Ollie. "We must continue at another time. I will leave to sleep now." Black floats back to his room. As Adrian gets closer, he notices that Charla was helping Maro to his room. His question could be predicted.  
"Maro ate some deadly fruit, but managed to get himself here in time to be saved. His condition will improve with a day of rest."   
"Oh," Ollie meowed. Adrian began to say something, but his mother came out of her room and yelled across the large open atrium.  
"Adrian! You're finally back! Come-on, your favorite wrestling show is on!" She then paused and wondered why she said that. Adrian came running toward his mother.  
"You have a TV?"  
"Of course I do. There's really nothing else on, and it's almost like a soap opera...." Adrian walked with his mother into her room with Lucy and sat on a leathery lazy chair. "I asked for a few things while you were outside."   
"Nice." He got comfy and began watching the TV as two largely muscled men battled it out for a title belt. Ollie walked back to his room.  
  
Charla was almost shocked at seeing the room Maro shared with Black.   
"A cot?! All you get is a cot?!?" Maro was about to say something, but a sharp pain made him wince. He stumbled and fell inside Black's half of the room. Charla lunged forward to try and catch Maro, but nothing was there to catch. She then blew a small flame to light up the area, but its light was completely absorbed by the darkness. "Wah... Maro, are you alright?"  
"I think so," called Maro from what sounded like the bottom a deep trench. "I can't see anythi- OW!"  
"What happened!?"  
"....I ran into a wall. It feels rough.... but the ground seems soft. I could dig, but i don't think I would get far."   
"Do not worry, poor Maro," boomed the voice of Black. It echoed throughout every aspect of the room. Charla jumped when she heard it.  
"I di-did not realize you-you were here n-now, umm..." Charla stuttered.   
"It is alright Charla; now Maro, shall I assist you out of there?"  
"Please!" Although sight was useless at this point, Charla could hear the movement of air as Black descended down into the depression. After a few moments, Maro walked out of the darkness.  
"Thank you, Black. I can see that age does not cripple a dragonair's senses." Black remained hidden in the darkness.  
"Hmph. It does, but simply not to me. Just be glad that the bottom was soft this time and not filled with thorns and needles, my cell-mate. As for you Charla, you must spend an uncomfortable night on your cell's wool-stack; Dasher will not abandon the lava pit. He spent all day in it, but it will not hurt his legs." Charla, surprised at the prediction, bows slightly, and walks out of the room. 'Cell?' she thought. She passed by Duckman and Cannon's room. Duckman was working out and jamming while Cannon was meditating. Duckman's pace got slower and slower until he dropped. Charla rushed in to see if she could do something to help him, but the sound barrier was in place, so she couldn't enter either half. Duckman glowed for a moment then slowly got to his feet. He said something, what looked like 'I've had it,' but nothing could be heard. Charla backed away and continued to her room. Glen materialized to her left.  
"What is wrong, my fiery companion? You have a very pained look on your face.... Do-you-need-a-smile?" Charla looked at him, trying her hardest not to seem so down.  
"I... I was approached by some strange creature outside. I couldn't tell what he was, or even pick up his scent.... He told me that Adrian was going to leave without us soon.... I don't know why I feel so down; I guess I just don't want to see him leave. A smile would be nice." Glen looks a little shocked at the fact that Adrian was leaving, but he begins to smile again.  
"He's a big boy, he'll be safe." Glen waddles off somewhere through the walls. Charla enters her room and sees Dasher on the stack of wool. 'Shouldn't he be in the lava pool? Lord Black's predictions are never wrong,' she thinks. She slides into the lava pit and begins to sleep as her stresses are smothered out by the thick, hot lava.   
  
Adrian exits from his mother's room. "That was some show." He stretches as he walks into his room. Ollie is asleep on his chair. 'Guess I'll take a shower.' After finishing his shower, Adrian plops on his beds and falls soundly asleep.  
  
Black exits from his room after having a short nap. Mewtwo, Alen, and Glen are up discussing various trivial things. Black floats their way. The discussion stops. Mewtwo steps forward.  
"Shall we continue?"  
"Yes. As I said before, Adrian's psychic strength is growing exponentially. I saw him create a fractal out of the sand." Glen is a little confused.  
"Whazza fract-al?"  
"'It is any of the various extremely irregular curves or shapes for which any suitably chosen part is similar in shape to a given larger or smaller part when magnified or reduced to the same size.' I believe that is the proper definition. He created a simple Julia set in two dimensions. I am not too sure if he knows about what he created or not, but this is good. It means that he will triumph in his task ahead."  
"What task would that be?" Alen interrupted.  
"He must dawn demon wings and prevent this world from destruction." Alen, Glen, and Mewtwo looked shocked.  
"So there was more to it than just keeping his primal side from rampaging,"  
"Yes, Mewtwo, but there is something worse. It will be his equal that he must face."  
"He has an equal?!"  
"Yes Alen, she will dawn feathered wings and try to destroy this world."  
"Who is this girl?" Mewtwo asks.  
"Her name....," Black closes his eyes, "...is Amber." Mewtwo's eyes widen.  
"What... what did you say?" Mewtwo's mind races. 'That name, I have heard it before.'  
"There are certain facts you are not ready for, Mewtwo. I cannot go further, except to say that she has more of the same cards that Adrian has been finding."  
"Where is she, I must know!"  
"She is in a place that cannot be teleported to and only Adrian will be able to enter. Once he comes back will we be able to travel to this realm."  
"What kind of realm is it?"  
"I do not know. It exists beyond my grasp. I will leave now, and finish my rest." Mewtwo thinks of something to ask, but doesn't ask. He realizes he must wait. Black floats back to his room, but observes that Charla is in the lava pit. 'I must be losing my foresight.... I have been outside the orb too long. Hmph, it seems it is still on the ship.' He teleports it to his room and enters it when he gets there. Alen and Glen continue discussing about the foretellings of Black with Mewtwo.  
"Who is this Amber that seemed to have you shocked?"  
"She.... I cannot remember. I remember that name from somewhere, but I do not remember where. I will find out soon enough."  
"And what do you think these 'demon wings' are? I mean, DEmons, really..." Glen said.  
"That could mean those charizard wings that Charla has kept for some time. I never really knew how she got those, except that she may have killed a giant charizard and took its wings as a trophy," Alen answered.  
"No, those wings belonged to a human who had mutated into a charizard upon an accidental bite from Charla," Mewtwo corrected, "He retained some human characteristics, but he became the charizard that fathered her only son."  
"How is it possible that he just mutates into a charizard? He was a human!"  
"That does not have a clear answer. Perhaps out of some strange occurrence, he was born with an unstable genetic pattern that can change at a moment's notice. Charla's bite could have triggered the reaction, but it is not certain. One thing is certain though, when his wife left him, odd things began happening. He became closer to pokémon. Although the son missed her terribly, she never came back or attempted to contact them. She never remarried, and soon died when part a newly constructed building collapsed on her. Her body was identified, but he was never contacted. He received the bite from Charla at the same instant as her death."  
"Strange co-ink'i'dink..." Glen muttered.  
"What is worse is the reason why she left."  
"Tell, do tell," Glen said over anxiously.  
"...She did not like the fact that he cared more for pokémon than he did for her. He almost seemed to neglect her in favor of pokémon."  
"Hmm, I suppose certain things have to happen," Alen figured.  
  
*****  
  
The dreamer slowly opens his eyes and sees a wide open field in front of him. Dark clouds obscure a crescent moon. A gentle breeze sways the grass to and fro as if lulling it to sleep. He hears the rustling of the grass as the clouds pass in front of the moon. Everything turns dark. For an eternity, he stands there in silence. The rustling of the grass becomes louder as the wind becomes more aggressive. '.... Sounds like the crashing of waves.'  
He hears the beating of wings and feathers behind him. He turns around, but can't see through the thick darkness. Shouts of a man and a woman drift across the open field. For a moment, the moon peeks through the clouds and bathes them in soft light.   
"Take that, you witch!" A man with large, fleshy wings lunges forward at a woman with feathered wings.  
"Not this time." The woman dodges the attack as the man continues forward. She counters with a ball of lightning that hits him square in the back. He laughs.  
"Pathetic..." He turns and grins. Before she can react, he darts forward and knocks her to the ground. She struggles to stand up, but he pins her down. The clouds cover the moon again. Once again, all is enveloped in darkness.   
The harsh wind carries the woman's faint cries and the sound of flesh hitting flesh. The dreamer squints his eyes and sees the faint silhouette of the man beating the woman into the ground.   
The man stops punching. "You will never have this world!" The clouds finally break and the moon floods the field with light. Blood trickles from the woman's nose and mouth. Bruises patch her face and arms. Tears stream from her eyes.  
"You won't either...." The woman turns her head and smiles at the dreamer. "....Adrian."  
'No, that can't be me!' His heart races. His eyes widen. He begins to sweat. 'I could never be like that!'   
The man steps back. "Enough." He swings an arm in an upward motion. The earth underneath the woman rises in the shape of a hand and palms her. He slowly starts to squeeze his hand into a fist. The earth-hand mimics his action and begins to crush her body.   
'Stop!' The dreamer moves toward the man.  
"Little dreamer..." The man turns his head and glares at him coldly. "...this is my world."  
The man and the dreamer stare at each other for a long minute - their eyes locked.  
The man raises his hand and clenches his fist. Bones crack.   
The dreamer feels his own fist closing. Blood spills.  
The dreamer breaks his stare and looks at the woman. The blood trickling from her body begins to flow like a river. The grassy field becomes a crimson swamp. He again locks his gaze on the man.  
'I'm not like you.' The dreamer raises his clenched fist.   
"You can become me." The man with fleshy wings takes a step forward.  
'This world belongs to no one.' The dreamer releases his fist.  
"The world can be yours." The man takes another step.  
'I will never become you.' Stone crumbles. Body falls.  
"You cannot escape your fate." Another step.  
The red river flows faster. The swamp becomes a crimson sea. The tides rise all around them. The winds pick up. The calm sea becomes a violent ocean. The dreamer struggles against the towering waves. The tides rise higher. The ocean swallows him.  
An odd metallic taste stabs his tongue. He panics. He feels the thick warm liquid invading his nose. He panics. His arms flail about. His legs thrash. He tries to swim toward the surface. Hands grab his legs and pull him down. He panics. He can't breathe. Darkness surrounds his vision. He panics. He lunges forward. The hands pull him back down. He has no more strength. His eyes close. He falls into the abyss. "You cannot escape your fate...."  
  
*****  
  
Adrian opens his eyes suddenly and sits up in a quick motion. He finds himself drenched in sweat. He calms down and sets his head back on his pillow. Something catches his eyes: a card.   
"Another? How did this get here? I don't even remember how I got the second one, but now a third one?" It, like the second one, was sitting on the strangely lit ball on the table that was in front of his bed. Ollie stretched and meowed.  
"Good morning!" He jumped off his chair and walked out the door. Adrian followed. He looked up when he entered the atrium.  
"The skylight doesn't have any light.... Is it really morning?"  
"Yes Adrian, it is morning," Mewtwo reassured, "Every so often I must make the temperature drop so that some of the plant life here can feel a change. I could keep the island at one relative state of heat, but some plants would die. I would rather preserve them." Some of the other pokémon exited their rooms. Charla let herself fly to the skylight, but stopped when she saw a translucent blue barrier blocking her path. Snow covered the other side.  
"What's up with that? I thought it was daytime." Mewtwo psychically tells her what he told Adrian. "Oh... I guess I shouldn't leave then, huh..." She landed and decided to check on Maro.   
Duckman was a little restless. "So we can't go outside? Fine with me!" He ran back to his room.  
"Like we need him around....," Lucy said under her breath. "But it does seem like I've been indoors too long."  
"Is it really cold outside?" Adrian's mother asked while drinking some coffee. Mewtwo nodded.  
"Then there must be snow out there!" Adrian said a little too loud. Mewtwo almost smiled when he nodded. Adrian darted for an exit, but stopped when his mother hollered at him.  
"Adrian! Don't even think about going outside without a coat! You're gonna catch a cold! And what about your feet! You're not even-"  
"Alright, alright.... but I don't have a coat." Mewtwo's eyes flash for a second.  
"One is in your room now."  
"Thanks!" Adrian runs off to his room.   
"I'm hungry..." Ollie meows. Mewtwo creates a small dish of fish for him.  
"Thank you." Mewtwo begins to feel slightly fatigued.   
'I've been overexerting myself...'   
Cannon walks to a door. It opens, but the cold air doesn't rush in. He then notices a translucent blue barrier. He slowly moves toward it; pushing his hand forward. The barrier allows his hand through, but he immediately withdraws it. His hand was numb.  
"That's REALLY cold! I've never felt something so violently frigid." Cannon walked back to his room.  
  
"Where are my shoes?!" Adrian wondered angrily. He found his socks and the coat, but no shoes. "Of course, here they are..." They were in the restroom. He quickly puts them on and ties them up. He walks out his room and towards one of the doors. The door opens and he notices the same thing Cannon saw. Adrian smiled, and jumped through the barrier. High, biting winds whipped snow and ice into the air, but could not seem to get within an inch of him. The ground sunk under him when he landed.  
"Aah! SNOW!!" He grasped some in his hands. "Funny, I don't even feel the cold."  
The snow began to melt very quickly, even though his hands never went numb. He tried to build a snowman, but the snow melted before he could even pack it into a ball. He began to get frustrated. He concentrated on the snow. His eyes flash blue. A snowman with all the snow tightly bundled began to form in his mind. The snow seemed to start floating into balls until his snowman formed.   
He collapsed.   
"I... I must've over-done it." Adrian tried to lift himself up off the snow, but could not find the strength to do so. 'What's going to happen to me? I... can't even move. ....feels like I'm just... completely... gone... spent.... If only I could use that recover ability Alen has. Then, maybe....' He began to glow. Strength seemed to return. He stood up. "Wait, I didn't do that." He looked up toward the sky where the sun should have been if there weren't any clouds. Something small was there. It had little hands, big feet, a long thin tail, and a head that looked a little like a cat. "I remember seeing you... in a dream. You're 'Mew,' right?"  
"Yes." It had a very sweet, loving, motherly voice. "I revived you." She floated toward him.  
Adrian hesitated. "Um... well... why are you here?"  
"I have come to take you to a place where you will meet the others that are truly human. Only I can take you there right now. Will you come with me?" Adrian almost felt completely relaxed by simply hearing Mew speak. He thought about the others.  
"What about my mom? She would worry herself if she didn't know where I was... And the others, they would worry too."  
"They will never realize that you were gone." Her voice calmed Adrian's worries. He nodded. She closed her sky blue eyes and began to initiate the teleport.   
______________________________________________________________  



	10. Part 10: Eyes...

______________________________________________________________   
Part 10: Eyes...

  
  
  
Mew and Adrian slowly begin to materialize. Adrian lands on his feet and looks around. His eyes began to adjust to the darkness.   
"A church?"   
"Yes, this is the last place that is safe to be teleported to. There are no other spots on this island." Adrian walks toward the front pew to his left. Deep scratches and dust cover it. He then turns around and sees a small depression in the floor.   
"An alter went there." he pointed. Mew nodded. A large cross was fixed to the wall in front of them. There seemed to be eight slots cut across the horizontal plank; slots small enough for a small square object. 'Cards?' Adrian thinks.   
"You must travel the rest of the way on foot. This is a place on earth that has no human inhabitants. Here, humans once lived, but have abandoned. This is also a place where failed cloning experiments are held."   
"Failed cloning experiments?! You mean, they actually tried?"   
"Yes, all the undesirables are kept here."   
"Undesirables...."   
"Adrian, a guardian will guide you to the other true humans. Follow him, he knows this land well. My strength is very limited here due to all the counter-measures the old scientists left in place. Only those physically strong can really survive here. I wish you good luck." With that, Mew teleports off the island. Adrian is left alone in the church.   
"Gah, it's getting really hot." Adrian takes off his heavy coat. Something falls from a coat pocket: a strange square card. Strange black and white design cover both sides. "Maybe it'll fit on that cross." The front door of the church opens without a sound. Adrian steps toward the cross, card in hand. A figure enters through the door and begins running. It was still very dark inside the church. Adrian was about to place the card in one of the slots when a large, scaly, three fingered hand grasped his wrist.   
"Not yet."   
Adrian nearly jumped out of his shoes, but he sensed something familiar about the figure that stood before him. He was dragonish, having the tail, legs, claws, and head of a dragon/charizard, yet having a more 'muscle man' sized torso, arms, and neck. He had something strapped to his back; a long handle stuck out. He had no wings.   
"Wh-who are you?"   
"My name is Dregon. I am your guardian here on this island." His voice sounded like a war-hardened general.   
"Oh, well I'm Adrian. You gave me a fright."   
"Yes, but you were about to place a card on the cross. You should not do that yet. There is a certain order to them."   
"What is the order?"   
"You will have to find that out after you get to your destination."   
"Hmmm, well I guess we should get going." Adrian tied the arms of his coat around his waist. Dregon walks toward the entrance with Adrian following. A sword was bound to Dregon's back.   
"You should know that it will take us at least a day to get there. There are many creatures here that hate the sight of humans, so they will try to attack you. Emphases on try."   
"Thanks." They exit the church. Adrian shields the bright sun light until his eyes re-adjust. He takes a good look around. Dregon had deep crimson scales.   
"We're in a jungle? A church in the middle of a jungle?!"   
"It was not always jungle. This is a very old church." Dregon reaches toward his sword's handle and pulls it out. "....I can feel it; something is coming."   
"What?" A large cat-like creature jumps from the trees aiming at Adrian. Dregon jumps and knocks it out of the sky. Adrian runs back into the church, leaving the door slightly open to watch. It lands on its feet and lunges toward Dregon. With his sword in front of him, Dregon dashes toward the creature. Adrian turned away in time to miss a horrible scene. Something splattered on the door of the church, but Adrian did not want to see it. There was no more movement except for a slow panting.   
"Dre-Dregon?"   
"Yes? ...*pant*..."   
"Is it over?"   
"For now, yes." He blew fire on the blade to clean it up. He then picked up and threw the larger parts of what was left of the creature into a patch of high grass so Adrian would not have to see it. Adrian stepped out of the church and walked toward an opening in the jungle that did not have a trace of red near it. His head was down. Dregon began to follow after he sheathed his sword.   
"Adrian?"   
"Yeah?"   
"I had to defend you. You would have been dead by now."   
"I know."   
"Then you should know that that dead body will attract more. We must get running." Dregon started to run and scooped up Adrian in his arms. His high arched feet allowed him to sprint through the thick jungle. Over large roots. Through muddy areas. Over rocks. He began to pant. "I know where a river is not to far from here."   
"Okay, let's go to it." Adrian felt the huge muscular arms begin tensing. Branches crackling and leaves rustling could be heard behind them.   
"Something has followed us! Hang on." He jumped high in a clearing and spun around. He saw a boar-like creature tearing up the ground stampeding toward them. When he landed he immediately jumped again and put Adrian on a high tree branch. "Don't move."   
"Don't worry."   
"I will deal with him." He pulled his sword out and dashed toward the beast. It saw the blade, and used its tusk to deflect Dregon's attack. The boar seemed to catch all of Dregon's sword slashes with his tusks. Adrian saw how the boar almost seemed to be faster than his guardian. He concentrated on the boar, trying to lift him off his feet. Nothing was happening. Adrian began to panic; Dregon was tossed from his opponent by a mighty blow. The boar began to charge the guardian. Adrian's eyes turned red.   
He jumped down.   
"What are you doing?!" Dregon yelled from his fallen state. Adrian's hair grew very long as he caught the boar's tusks in his small grip. He then flung the boar toward a tree with enough force to shatter the trunk. The boar hit and remained motionless. Adrian was panting and twitching, and then ran toward the boar. Large claws seemed to replace his fingers. He began to rip into the boar, tearing skin and slicing bone.   
"Adrian, stop!" Dregon lifted himself up and walked toward the mess.   
"Hmmm?" Adrian questioned with his mouth full of boar muscle looking at Dregon. His red eyes started to fade and his hair and hands began to return to normal.   
"Adrian, snap out of it!"   
"Wha-ph..... Phoo- AAHhh!" Adrian spit out what was in his mouth and stepped out of the boars rib cage. His arms were completely covered in the boar's blood, as was his shirt, part of his pants, and his shoes. Dregon sheathed his sword and picked up Adrian.   
"How did you do that?" Adrian, shocked, blinked several times.... then fainted.   
Dregon cradled him in his arms and strode off to the river. 'At least we will be safe there.' he thought.   
  


*****

  
'He has done it. He has taken a life and feasted. I hope it is his last.' Black stirs from his slumber inside his orb. 'Just a little further and he will change. Just like his father. Just like the men of his kind.'   
  


*****

  
"He sure has been out there a long time." Adrian's mother worried. She sat at the table idly poking her food with a fork.   
"Don't worry 'bout him, Tiff. He didn't really need the coat, you know." Lucy comforted.   
"Really?"   
"Well, yeah. I've been meaning to tell you about an incident he had while you were at work a few days ago." Charla said while finishing her meat lump.   
"Tell me what?"   
"He seemed to have lost his mind. He actually ripped out and ate the ribs from a kill I brought home."   
"What?!" She was in shock. "My baby did that?"   
"Yeah, he then asked me to flame the blood off his body. I knew that if I breathed a low flame any normal human would run away slightly burned, but he wanted me to turn up the heat."   
"How? How could he have withstood that?"   
"When I stopped the flame, he stood there completely unharmed, and without clothes of course."   
"Well, of course, clothes would burn, but still how....." Adrian's mother thought a second. She knew why, but did not want to admit it to herself. "Well I'm still worried. Is there any way we can know if he's okay?"   
"I can check if it will put you at ease." Mewtwo offered. "You should be relaxing. It has been some time since you last had a vacation, has it not?"   
"Yes, I suppose you're right.... Wait, how'd you-" Mewtwo pointed to his head. "Oh, right, I completely forgot." Mewtwo walked to his door's barrier. He put his hand slowly through it. He continued until he was completely past his barrier.   
"Such a serene white, is it not?. It has been some time since I saw you last."   
  


*****

  
"Wha-what happened...?" Adrian slowly came to. Dregon was kneeling beside the river rinsing his face. Adrian looked for a minute, trying to remember what had happened. He blew fire while facing down and the water quickly evaporated. Bright golden eyes stared back at Adrian.   
"We are at the river. A small clan has control of this area of land, so we will be safe." Adrian sits up and notices that he was not wearing his original clothing. A large hide covered him.   
"What happened?!" Dregon stood up and walked toward Adrian.   
"Your clothes were covered with so much blood that I had to get rid of them. How did you become so violent?"   
"I.... I don't know. It's happened once before, but not like that. I remember.... I was trying to lift the boar up with my mind so you could get a clean hit, but when nothing happened, I-"   
"You were trying to do what? Lift the boar?"   
"Yeah, I've done it before, only it was with sand and snow and plates."   
"Hmm.... I did not realize you had psychic powers. This island has many hidden machines and barriers that prevent most psychic actions, like teleporting or mind-reading."   
"It sure seemed like it, but when I started to worry about you I must've lost control." Adrian stood up. The hide wrapped around him like a toga. "So, where is this clan?"   
"I will take you to them. We are headed there anyway." Dregon started walking down the river.   
"What are they like?" Adrian asked while following.   
"They are the failures of many experiments, but are strong enough to exist here. The scientist had one goal, but the results of their experiments were undesirable. They succeeded only once to create what they wanted, but their desired creation destroyed them."   
"Their desired creation...." A large gray creature could be seen in the distance.   
"We are almost there. That's the gate guardian." The huge creature of muscle began to stare at Adrian with deep purple eyes. Sweat started to come from the creature's sculpted head, which had a what seemed like a pipe of flesh connecting the back of his head to his lower neck. He seemed to be afraid of something.   
"HIM HUMAN?" Dregon nodded.   
"He is the real human."   
"ENTER." Adrian looked up at the gate guardian. He did not understand what was being said.   
"Hi. I'm Adrian."   
"GREAT KING, PLEASE ENTER."   
"Huh?" Dregon put his hand behind Adrian's head and guided him across the gate.   
"Come, we have to talk to the clan master." Dregon lead him across the small village of creatures that had a feature similar to that of the gate guardian in the back of their sculpted heads. Each creature looked at Adrian as he walked by. They were whispering to each other.   
"Dre-Dregon, why are they staring at me?" Dregon looked around while walking.   
"I am not too sure." Some of the creatures were black colored, others were light purplish, and others pinkish. All their eyes were deep purple. There were a few tall trees and small trails here and there, some of which hides hung and tents were made.   
"Is that where the clan master lives?" Adrian said while pointing at an especially strange looking hut. Dregon nodded.   
"Oh." They entered the hut.   
"Dregon, I'm glad to see you're alright. How has the hunt been going?" The voice had a very sly tone to it and Adrian could understand it. He stepped out from behind Dregon. The clan master was wearing black colored plated armor with shoulder pads that extended. A whip was tied on his right, a large carved tooth that resembled a dagger on his left, and a long rod on his back. He, himself, was dark purple. "....A human child? Where did he come from? You know he shouldn't be here! Is he an off-"   
"He is the real human." The clan master's deep purple eyes widened. Adrian smiled.   
"I'm Adrian."   
"Uh, he-hello, uh, A-Adrian. I'm the clan master. I'm Sixteen."   
"Sixteen? Why not choose a real name, like Mason or Michael?" Sixteen crossed his arms.   
"I am not human. Those are human names." He pointed his nose up to the ceiling.   
"Enough. We need some supplies for the journey ahead. Will you help us, Sixteen?" Dregon interrupted.   
"Yes. You have the great REAL human with you. Of course I'll help. What do you need?" Dregon talked softly to Sixteen. Adrian looked around. Many skulls and weapons lined the walls.   
"That all? Simple enough. Ask Thirty-One for those, I'm sure sure she has them." Dregon walked out the hut with Adrian following.   
"I.... I can't believe that child really exists. All Hell's gonna break loose...." Sixteen said under his breath.   
"What kind of supplies do we need?"   
"We need some medical supplies just in case you get hurt. You never know what's going to happen out there."   
"So, you know where Thirty-One lives?" Dregon nodded.   
"I have visited her before. This clan knows me because I saved a group of their members from a deadly fight. She was one of them. She was sent to restock the supply of healing herbs with three guards. She is a very needed part of this clan; without her most here would have died from wounds and poisons."   
"Wow; can't believe she was an undesirable." They were nearing a small clearing with a small hole with three trees surrounding it.   
"She lives in there."   
"Should we go in?"   
"We don't have to. She can tell when someone is over her front entrance." Dregon stepped up to the hole. A voice called from below.   
"Wait just a minute!" Adrian could not understand what was actually said. It sounded very old and screechy.   
"What did she say?" Dregon looked up and remembered that Adrian would not have known what was said.   
"She said to wait a minute." Dregon folded his arms. He began to tap his foot silently.   
"That won't make me any faster!" Sounds of things moving and footsteps left the hole. She poked her head out and rested her arms on the dirt.   
"Dregon! My it's been a while. What do you need?" Her skin was dark purple in color. Dregon knelt down and told her softly. "I've got plenty I can let you have, but it's a mess down here. It'll take me some time to find them." She glances over at Adrian. "Who's this?" Adrian looked confused.   
"His name is Adrian. He is the real human." Her purple eyes widened.   
"Oh, well, let me find those for you." She dipped back under and more sounds of movement could be heard.   
"So, what was the conversation about?"   
"I asked her if she had some supplies. She said that she has what we need, but her place is a mess and that finding them will take some time. I also told her your name."   
"Hmmm, well, can I ask another question?   
"Yes."   
"Why do you call me 'the real human?'" Dregon hesitated.   
"Because that is what you are." Adrian remembers what Black had told him about the past.   
"Well, how can you be sure?"   
"It is what I was told by the mew that brought you here and that asked me for help." Adrian sat on the ground and thought a little. Dregon decided to sit as well.   
"So you decided to help?"   
"Yes, out of duty. My grandmother told me once that mew are like living gods: they control many different elements of nature. So if one needed your help, you give it to him or her."   
"Wait a minute.... your grandmother? What happened to your mother?" Dregon seemed a little surprised by the question.   
"She.... went away and left me in the care of her parents. I think it was to fulfill an old prophecy made by the eldest of her time. His name was.... was Ashton." Adrian's jaw nearly dropped.   
"No way! That would mean that you're.... you're-"   
"Found 'em!" Thirty-One yelled out from her hole. Adrian and Dregon stare at the hole. A bag flew from the hole and landed with a clink.   
"Thank you. I hope it was not too much trouble for you."   
"Naw, they were in a cabinet for once. See ya 'round, Dreg." Dregon got up and picked up the sack. He tied it to the belt of his sword's sheath.   
"Ummm.... translation?"   
"Oh, she said that she did not have to look very hard and I thanked her. Now what was it you were about to say?" Adrian hesitated, thinking it through.   
"I know who your mother is. Her name is Charla."   
"Yes, that's correct."   
"And your name used to be White Flame."   
"That is correct also. I had to change it when I changed. As you can see, I no longer have a tail flame."   
"Well, this brings to me another question: how did you become what you are if she left you as a charmeleon?" Dregon stared into Adrian's eyes.   
"I.... I can't tell you. At least not yet." He turned away.   
"Seems like the little one has you figured out, Dreg." Thirty-One called from her hole. Dregon started walking toward the entrance.   
"What did she say?"   
"She bid us farewell and good luck. We have to go now." Adrian followed Dregon out the entrance.   
"Well, I hope we have good luck."   


______________________________________________________________

  



End file.
